LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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Shelf ....SM 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



i 



HOUSEHOLD SCIENCE; 

OR, 

PRACTICAL LESSONS 

IN 

HOME LIFE, ' 



BY 

THE AUTHOR OF GOLDEN SANDS 

NEW YORK: 
D. & J SADLIER & CO,, 

31 BARCLAY STREET. 

Montreal : 275 Notre Dame Street. 

iSSl. 




Copyright. 

ELLA J. McMAHON. 

1881. 



Exc:hicr Eleciyoiypj Fotnidry^ 
Weit Seneca, N. V. 



INTRODUCTION. 



This little book contains a multitude of 
details which may appear tiresome to a 
thoughtless young girl. 

" — Household details at sixteen, when 
the heart has wings, and the imagination 
keeps before our eyes the enchanting 
future of our dreams ! 

" — Household details, all that is most 
material in life for us, who feel our souls 
raised by poetry above the realities of ex- 
istence ! 

" — Oh ! leave us yet our bright dreairs 
and aspirations ! 

*' Later!. . ." 

No, my child, 7iow^ these details will be 
useful to you, they are specially written 



4 Introduction. 

for you, and it is your mother, not we, 
who offer them to you. 

Present this book to her, ask her to 
look over it, and if, with your usual obe- 
dience, you submit to study it, rest assured 
that the details contained in it will later 
spare you many regrets and perhaps many 
tears. 

Although less pleasing, my child, they 
are of more value than your dreams. 

They will teach you to be useful ; and is 
not that the most beautiful dream a young 
girl can have ? 



11. 



You who have preserved your mother's 
teaching in your heart will love this book. 
You will love it because it will recall your 
childhood, and a thousand little memories 
of home, wiih little details of economy 
and comfort which you witnessed, and 
now long to practice that you may help 
those whom you love. 



Introduction. 5 

Therefore we cheerfully dedicate it to 
you. 

It was from one of you we received the 
most agieeable praise we could possibly 
desire, and it proved to us the trutli of 
our labor. We read a few chapters to a 
young girl, she listened with pleased at- 
tention, then suddenly interrupted : " My 
mother does all that," she exclaimed, 
happy to find lier mother's picture traced 
in these pages. 

Oh ! how we wish that each of you 
would find herein the memory of your 
mother ! 

III. 

We have written this work in the moth- 
erly presence of the Blessed Virgin in her 
little household of Nazareth. A picture 
of the Holy Family is before us. St. 
Joseph and the Blessed Virgin are at work 
in their modest little dwelling, the Infant 
Jesus seems to go from one to the other, 
seeking to help them. 



6 Introduction. 

Children, at present, imitate the eager- 
ness of Jesus to help and obey His par- 
ents, and later, instructed by our lessons, 
the wise counsels of your teachers, and 
aided by experience, you will imitate 
Mary providing for the wants of those 
about her. S. 



HOUSEHOLD SCIENCE. 



PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. 

Definition.— End.— Division. 



WHAT IS HOUSEHOLD SCIENCE? 

ist. Household Science is the art of 
employing for the welfare and conifoit of 
a family all the resources which Provi- 
dence places at our disposition. 

HOW TO PROCURE THE WELFARE AND 
COMFORT OF A FAMILY. 

Household Science, wliich many young 
girls consider wholly a material science 
pertaining only to the kitchen and poultry 
yard, procures us this w^elfare and comfort 

7 



8 Household Science, 

by teaching us to preserve, to repair, to 
utilize, and to make the most of our re- 
sources, or in other words, it is the union 
of all those human virtues whicli tend to 
make life as happy as it can be on earth. 

This science lias as auxiliaries to help 
us in acquiring these virtues: 

Labor andeconomy, whicli teach us to lay 
up our resources ; 

Older and neatness, which help us to 
preserve them ; 

The knowledge we have acquired and 
the lessons of experience, which teach us 
to titilize them ; 

Industry and activity, which help as to 
repair them , 

Finally, the teaching of good taste, which' 
helps us to embellish them. 

Do you not think that if all these human 
virtues reigned in a family they would 
bring joy, peace and plenty ? And if they 
find already reigning in it true Catholic 
piety, which consists in purity of soul pre- 
served by means of the Sacraments ; in a 



Household Science. g 

filial confidence in God, whicli beholds 
Providence disposing events for the good 
of all ; in that devotion which forgets self 
to help others ; in that goodness, finally, 
which pardons faults and sees not defects, 
would not such a family be a reflection of 
heaven ? And if you were told it is upon 
you. my young friend, lliat all this depends, 
would you not be proud, and would you 
not instantly set yourself to work to begin 
your mission of making others happy ? 

woman's mission in the family. — ITS 
QUALITIES. 

. The happiness of a family depends al- 
most entirely on woman, to whom is con- 
fided the government of this little interior 
kingdom ; the other members bring from 
without the elements of comfort, but with- 
out assistance these elements would re- 
main unproductive. ''No good," says 
Fenelon, "can be effected in the house- 
hold without woman." 



lO Household Science. 

Behold, also, how the Ancients con- 
sidered her. She is, say they, the magis- 
trate who dictates the laws and causes 
them to be observed. If God has given 
her exterior graces, it is solely to make 
her authority loved. Now, the essential 
qualities of a magistrate are knowledge 
and good sense. 

She should make the tour of her house 
as a gove7'7ior does of his province, and 
only trust to her own superintendence, 
therefore she needs vigilance and tact. 

She should inspect the persons and 
things of her household, as a general in- 
spects his troops, insisting that everything 
should be in its place and perfectly neat, 
consequently she must possess in an emi- 
nent degree a spirit of order, and good 
taste. 

Like a queen^ she should praise and re- 
ward, reprove and punish, and encourage 
each one by her example. 

Finally, like a mother, she should make 
the happiness of the household and take 
minute care of the health of all. 



Household Science ii 

What prudence, what amiability, what 
tact, does she not need ? 

Is not your mission a very beautiful one ? 
But you will fulfil it perfectly only on one 
condition, that is, that you be a Saint. 

NECESSITY OF HOUSEHOLD SCIENCE. 

As the interior of the family is confided 
to woman, she would be essentially lack- 
ing in a moral obligation if she failed to 
learn the duties she must fulfil, and these 
duties constitute Household Science. 

God will very severely judge one who 
through ignorance or want of order has 
impoverished caused the ruin, or even 
the unliappiness of a family ! 

Poverty is rarely caused solely by un- 
toward events Thus when pecuniary 
roubles fall upon a household, go to the 
l)Ottom of the trouble and you will gener- 
ally find one of these four passions, ex- 
travagance, vanity, gambling, or specula- 
tion. The first two come from woman ; 



12 Household Science, 

if she be virtuous and clever (these two 
qualities must be united) she can often 
remedy the two last. This cleverness, 
wliich is only the result of instruction 
united 7vith tad, is not innate, it must be 
acquired. 

Good will and experience may in tlie 
end supply for want of instruction ; but 
solid principles, well understood, power- 
fully aid the always rather rude lessons of 
experience, and prevent many abuses 
which if at first ignored grow, and be- 
coming firmly rooted, make the misery of 
a life. 

'' Appeal to your mother," wrote a lady 
to a young girl, " and beg her to teach you 
the difficult and important art of keeping 
house. 

"While you are with her, your ignor- 
ance may not cause you much trouble, 
but a time will come when you will bitterly 
regret missing the precious opportunity of 
acquiring some experience." 



Household Science. 13 



OUR OBJECT. 

It is this experience, which in propor- 
tion to your age, we wish to give you in 
this little work. 

We are incapable of supplying the les- 
sons of your mother, but we would prepare 
you to receive them by suggesting some 
general principles which you will learn lo 
develop at her side. Study these princi- 
ples well, you will need them all your life. 

You will .not always be a child ; soon 
Grammar, Analysis, History, Geography 
will be only vaguely useful to you. House- 
hold Science will daily help you to con- 
duct yourself wisely and prudently. 

Moreover, this Science is specially yours ; 
the studies which relate to our position 
must be like home where we remain day 
and night, and the other studies, literary 
or historic, like the gardens and houses of 
our friends where we go to pass a few 
pleasant leisure moments, where we walk 



14 House Jiold Science. 

and amuse ourselves, but do not sojourn. 

AUTHORITIES. 

We conclude this preliminary chapter 
by transcribing a few pages supporting 
our remarks on the necessity of studying 
household science. 

Mme. Campan, in her Memoirs, giving 
an account of the system of education 
pursued in her house of Ecouen, says : 

" My pupils when old enough to exercise 
their judgment appreciate why I insist 
upon their keeping their effects in order, 
and sweeping the class rooms ; so far from 
reproaching me later for the penance 
which may have been inflicted upon them 
for failing in these duties, they thank me 
for the salutary habits they thus acquired. 

" Nevertheless it must be acknowledged 
that tlie art of keeping house cannot be 
practically acquired at school ; we can 
only demonstrate its usefulness, 

'"I think that the pupils should be 



Household Science. 15 

obliged to make tlieir beds, sweep their 
rooms and class rooms, and even wait on 
table ; their dresses, linen, and everything 
should be made by themselves. 

"I tried to teach my young girls to 
wash and iron, and one year I was even 
anxious to teach them how to preserve 
vegetables for the winter, and to make 
preserves. . . . But I soon repented of 
trusting delicate muslin to their over- 
heated irons, and particularly fruit and 
sugar to their invariable greediness." 

Mme. Julie Borde gives some counsels 
which evince a good deal of experience. 

The following is a sliort extract from 
them : 

"... A woman should be instructed 
in everything relating to domestic affairs. 
She sliould know how to prepare a meal, 
to preside at table, she should know tlie 
necessary precautions to take in providing 
for a household, the current price of pro- 
visions, and the quantity required for a 
certain number of persons. 



1 6 Ho2t.se ho id Science. 

" It is no less necessary that she herself 
should know how to economically make 
things which are very expensive when 
ordered at a confectioner's. There are 
persons foolish enough to refuse tlieir 
daughters practical instruction in domes- 
tic economy, absurdly deeming such knowl- 
edge useless and beneath their rank. 
But all knoivledge 7-elating to the economy 
of a household^ is as necessary in the educa- 
tion of a lady as reading and writing. 

"It is important, then, that in educa- 
tional institutions for young girls, the 
pupils sliould occasionally have some 
practice in domestic economy." 

"The usual practical knowledge of all 
that relates to domestic economy is of 
absolute necessity for women," writes Mme, 
Sirey. 

"A mother of a family should herself 
know how to execute all that she orders, 

" Experience proves that there is no 
social position which can secure her from 
the chance of one day being obliged to 



HoiiseJiold Science, 17 

attend to her own kitchen, to the mending, 
making, washing of her clothes, and to 
the personal care of her house. 

" Nature has made her the provider, 
the instructress, the nurse of all belonging 
to her. 

" Her contempt or ignorance of the 
details and duties wliich alone make 
women useful, necessary, and respected, is 
a proof of a bad education, and little ele- 
vation of soul. 

Fenelon^ whom we must always bear in 
mind when there is a question of the edu- 
cation of girls, says : 

'Form the mind of a young girl for the 
things she must do all her life. Teach 
her domestic economy, and the care she 
should take of her income. 

"From childhood accustom her to 
know how to govern, to make up accounts, 
to conclude a bargain, and how each 
thing should be made in order to render 
it most useful." 
■ These and many others are the author- 



1 3 Household Science. 

itics who gave us the idea of this work ; 
we have undertaken it at tlie instance of 
wise teachers, persuaded that the most 
flattering praise an educational institution 
can receive, comes from the lips of a 
motlier who can say my daughter is capa- 
ble of taking my place in tlie liousehoid. 

DIVISION OF THIS TREATISE. 

The end of domestic economy tlien is 
to ensure the welfare and comfort of the 
family. Tliese two tilings, tliougli result- 
ing one from the other, can be studied 
separately, and will therefore form the 
divisions of this treatise. 

The welfare of a family is secured by 
wisely employing, and if possible increas- 
ing its income. 

The comfort of a family is effected in 
general by order, without which no hap- 
piness is possible. 

Hence the following divisions: 

First. T/ie administration and increase of 
the family income. 

Second. The comfort of a family. 



FIRST PART. 

Administration and Increase of the Family 
Income. 



This first part will be composed of a few 
rules, the development of which embraces 
nearly all the necessary details in the 
management of a house. 

FIRST RULE. 

KNOW YOUR INCOME AND REGULATE YOUR 
EXPENSES ACCORDINGLY. 

So does the prudent man in the gospel 
who wishes to build, tluis meriting the 
praise of Jesus. 

IV/iic/i of you,'' says St. Luke, ^''having 
a mind to build a tower, doth not first sit 
down and reckon the charges that are 
necessary, whetJier he have wherewithal 
to finish dt ? Lest, after he hath laid the 

19 



20 Household Science. 

foiindatio?2, and is not able to finish it, all 
that see it begin to mock him.'' 

Therefore, the first thing you must be 
provided with, even if you have only 
charge of yourself, is an account book, in 
which you will write first of all your in- 
come, then your rtceipts and expenses, 
thus making it the regulator of your ex- 
terior life. 

But in calculating your income, beware 
of deceiving yours^elf with the hope of 
wealth to come. 

Do not count as belonging to you what 
only rests on a eon/ingeney, regulate your 
expenses according to what you possess, 
not what you hope to have. And at the 
head of the page for expenses write, that 
you may ever have them in mind, the fol- 
owing precepts from the gospel, the truest 
of all books : 

" Lay np to yourselves treasu7'es in 
heaven, where neither the rnst nor the moth 
doth consume, and thieves do not break 
through, nor steal. — Mat. 6, xx. Seek ye 



Household Science. 21 

therefore, first the kingdom of God and 
his justice, and all these things shall be 
added unto you.'* Mat. 6, xxx. 

And the following maxims, all the fruit 
of experience: 

'There is something more essential 
than giving pleasure, it is supplying neces- 
sities." 

"The true method of becoming rich 
and acquiring means to be charitable is 
to know how to deny ourselves wb.at we 
do not need." 

" If one would not be poor he must 
spend at least one cent less than his in- 
come/' 

THE PORTION OF THE POOR. 

When you know the amount you have 
to spend during the year, begin by setting 
aside the portion of the poor, which is 
also that of God. 

By serving them and making them your 
first object, you secure abundant bless- 
in sfs from heaven on the share which re- 



22 Household Science. 

mains to you. Make their portion very 
large ; you will never be inpoverished by 
alms-giving. Resolve that you will give 
so much every week or every month, and 
regard this money as sacred. 

There will probably be circumstances 
Avhen this sum will not be sufficient • you 
are free to add to it by retrenching from 
your own sliare, but you must never 
diminish it. 

Giving to t/ie poor, it has been said, is 
lending to God; and each time that a poor 
person receiving an alms from you says, 
God reward you ! even though it be said 
from force of habit, you may be sure that 
God assents to this petition of one of his 
children. 

DIVIDING THE INCOME. — DO NOT GO BE- 
YOND IT. 

The portion of the poor once deter- 
mined, divide Avhat remains and see wliat 
you have to spend by the day or monih, 



House hold Science, 23 

then estimate the sum you can spend for 
the house, household supplies, and for 
dress, and beware of going beyond it. 

If your regular income is not sufficient 
for all your wants, work. 

"A person is not poor," says an econo- 
mist, " because he has nothing, but be- 
cause he does not work." Assiduous 
work always sustains one, and, moreover, 
destroys a love of luxury, and endears 
home to us, where we can live so econom- 
ically when we wish. 

WORK. — DEBTS. 

We suppose you to be beyond the reacli 
of want, and even in the enjoyment of 
comparative ease, but is it any reason 
why this counsel, to work, to be industri- 
ous, should not apply to you ^ 

Beware, if you do not actually need to 
work for your own maintenance, you re- 
quire it for occtipation, to save yourself 
from enmd, from yielding to idle gossip. 



24 Household Science, 

and from being overcome by sensuality. 
When tlie Angel of Industry is driven 
away, or even neglected, the devil of idle- 
ness and caprice takes his place ; idleness 
and whims ruin the most opulent families. 

You need to work to obey the precept 
of God, who wishes that all creatures 
should labor, and finally, you need to 
work, that you may not fail into imliiience. 

Doubtless, others work and lay up for 
you, and here we only consider you as 
charged with preserving the income which 
is furnished you , but if you lose the love 
of labor, you lose other qualities, vigil- 
ance, accuracy, and a love of order. 

And to remedy the consequences which 
follow the loss of these qualities you have 
recourse to loans and debt. 

Then, woe to vou ! 

We remember a mother of a family, 
whose dying lips uttered the following 
words as the most important of all 
counsels : 

At least, my child, have no debts. 



Household Science. 25 

Nothing insensibly ruins, darkens life, 
and destroys happiness, like debt. 

Nevertheless this risk is incurred by 
those who neglect the simple and elemen- 
tary rule of making a clear and exact di- 
vision of their income, and have not the 
self-control to keep within it. 

IMake no purchase then, however unim- 
portant, without being very certain that 
your income will allow it. Wait, manage, 
calculate. Rigorously oblige yourself at 
the ena of each viontJi, I dare not say lueek^ 
to make up your accounts, to arrange the 
balance of your receipts and expenditures, 
that you may thus arrest yourself on the 
slippery precipice of artificial wants, or 
the exactions of vanity. 

If you ptirceive a deficit, a debt, allow 
yourself neither rest nor relaxation till 
you have rectified it. We will tell you 
later how it may be done. 

A debt in household accounts is like a 
rent in a garment, it will continue to grow 
unless it is immediately repaired. 



26 Household Science, 



DETERMINE A CERTAIN SUM TO BE LAID 
ASIDE. 

Be careful not only to keep within your 
income, but try to put aside a little sum 
of money each year to provide for unfore- 
seen accidents : a long sickness, or any 
loss in goods or money. It will also be 
the means of affording you those intimate 
joys of heart and soul which must not be 
neglected in a family. 

According to Lord Bacon, any one who 
wishes to keep his affairs in good condi- 
tion should not let his expenses exceed 
more than half his income ; if he would 
become rich, they should not exceed a 
third of his income. 

This is exacting a good deal, and I do 
not ask you to go so far, but I would like 
you to have hidden in a corner of your 
drawer, a little purse, which you will fill 
by denying yourself a multitude of fan- 
cies which your position admits, but tlie 



Household Science. 27 

privation of which will disturb neither 
your rest at night, nor your good humor 
during the day. 

I do not wish to dwell too much on the 
misfortunes, the pecuniary troubles which 
fall suddenly on a household, and destroy 
all its comfort, if there is no provision 
wherewith to meet tlie first wants, or the 
ex-penses of a long illness which not only 
causes a cessation of labor, but absorbs a 
large portion of the ordinary resources. 

At your age these reflections may not 
be appreciated, but are there not moments 
in life when we must prove ourselves 
more generous ? 

USEFULNESS OF THE SUM SET ASIDE. 

When for example there is question of 
a good work which saves the honor, the 
liberty, sometimes the life of a family 
and attaches devoted hearts to us forever, 
how fortunate we are to have this treas- 



28 House Jiold Science. 

lire, tlie result of our trifling self-denials 
from whicli we may freely draw what is 
thus needed. 

W'lien there is an unexpected oppor- 
portunity for some pleasure party of 
wliich we will long retain the pleasantest 
recollections. 

Or a pleasant trip to which we have 
long looked forward, and which deliglu- 
fully breaks the monotony of life. 

Or when there is an opportunity of re- 
ceiving old friends of former years, whom 
we keep with us as long as they will refnain^ 
and whose presence makes our hearts 
grow young again. 

Or, finally, when there is question of a 
handsome or useful present of some ob- 
ject to a member of the family, who has 
long had a desire for it, but who could not, 
or would not venture to procure it for him- 
stlf, or a soft garment for an aged relative, 
or a comfortable arm-chair for an infirm 
grandparent, or rare flowers or a valuable 
picture for a brother, a friend, whom we 



Household Science. 29 

know is a lover of such things. It is no 
deprivation to set aside money for such 
pleasures of the heart ; it is cultivating 
happiness, and each time that you add 
anything to your little reserve, you can 
say to yourself, this is to buy happiness 

MEANS OF RECTIFYING THE DEFICIT. 

Learn how to restore the balance be- 
tween your receipts and expenditures, 
when you perceive a deficit. 

The portion set aside for these inti- 
mate joys of the heart should, like the 
portion of the poor, be considered sacred 
and should never be used for any other 
purpose, unless to cover the expenses of 
illness or fome sudden loss. 

Sometin es the reserve will not wholly 
cover these expenses, then practice econ- 
omy Hew admirable is this art of 
economy ^^hen we earnestly devote our- 
selves to it. Once we have tried it we 
find a surplus everywhere, in everything. 



30 Household Science. 

First of all, clearly understand your posi- 
tion, and estimate what retrenchments will 
enable you to say, in so many months my 
accounts will exactly balance ! Then set to 
work. 

Do not economize in the quantity, but 
rather in the quality of the food, wliich 
can always be good, without being dainty. 
Plain meals a few days in the week will 
soon make a great difference in your ac- 
counts. 

Then is there not a surplus of seasoning 
or dessert which only serves to overexcite 
the palate, without satisfying the appe- 
tite ? Be inflexible in baftishing such 
superfluities, except upon grand occasions. 
Simple wines are healthier than the more 
expensive, and pastry overloads tlie 
stomach. 

Are there not superfluities in our toilets, 
such as expensive essences and perfumes, 
which could be advantageously replaced, 
by the ordinary toilet vinegar and simple 
aromatic plants of the woods? 



Household Science 31 

Is there not an extravagance of literary 
vanity^ such as subscriptions for frivolous 
magazines, fasliionable journals, which 
we scarcely read, and frequently only re- 
ceive for effect ? 

Withdraw these subscriptions for six 
months, it will be a real economy of time 
and money. 

Is there not an extravagance in fancy 
workl Instead of an embroidery with 
which you nonchalantly and dreamily oc- 
cupy yourself, take linen to mend, cut and 
make your ordinary garments ; you will 
economize the money you would otherwise 
be obliged to give a seamstress, and you are 
at least satisfied with your work. Know 
how to wait a month longer for an article 
of furniture, or toilet, which you have 
done without for a year. It is a great 
point in unnecessary expenses to know 
how to gain time. 

Wear for a month longer that gar- 
ment, which you intended to cast aside, 
because it was oldfasJiioned; with a few 
repairs it will still be very useful 



32 Household Science, 

Remain at home a little more, and you 
will spare the expense of a toilet for those 
parties, whither your vanity would liave 
led you, and whence you would have 
returned with vexation and perhaps even 
remorse. 

See few fine things, that you may not 
desire them, and be more industrious, that 
your imagination may not have time to 
suggest fictitious w-ants. 

In a word, do not retrench necessities 
but superfluities ; and when we set to 
work in earnest we find many superflui- 
ties about us. And if sometimes our 
economy must include necessities, oh ! 
let us hide the painful fact as long as 
possible from those we love. 

Let us suffer a little more to spare 
them. 

Oh ! one can live so well upon little, 
when she has a generous, devoted heart. 

Is it necessary to go further and men- 
tion selling your handiwork as a means of 
rectifying this deficit ? 



Household Science. 33 

Alas ! there is more than one household 
apparently in easy circumstances, and 
obliged to make a certain appearance in 
society which is only maintained by the 
monthly or yearly earnings of one or two 
members of the family. 

Then it is the lot of poor woman to im- 
pose upon herself every day, and some- 
times far into the night, several hours of 
serious, earnest, weary labor, that she may 
with small sums increase the scanty in- 
come. 

But watching, working, using her eyes, 
are nothing to a woman's devotion, and 
under the inspiration of her heart her in- 
dustries seem to multiply and become, 
more tasteful. 

But selling this work is the hardest part 
of her task. Oh ! one must go through 
such a trial to comprehend it ; you must 
have felt the color rise to your cheeks 
when you found yourself obliged to offer 
the result of your prolonged vigils to an 
indifferent merchant who offers you a small 



34 Household Science, 

sum with a disdainful smile which seems 
to say : How can a lady like you require 
this money ? 

However, if it were only hard, but it is 
hmfiiUating. No, my child, banish this 
word ; it is not christian, for poverty never 
humiliates one, but it is trying not to find 
a considerate buyer ! 

O ! my child, should God send you such 
trials, let your heart carry you back to 
your early years and seek counsel and com- 
fort from your teachers, who probably will 
do more to assist you than a mother can. 

And in this school was there not a kind 
friend to whom you confided all the 
troubles that disturbed the peace of your 
heart ? If this good priest, the friend of 
your soul, has not been called to his re- 
ward, seek him and confide your trouble 
to him. 

While you were happy he permitted you 
to forget him ; but now that misfortune 
has come to you, he will remember, you 
may be sure, that in the past you were long 
his spiritual child. 



Household Science. 35 

A FEW WORDS ON THE HOUSEHOLD BOOK 
OF EXPENDITURES AND RECEIPTS. 

To keep an account of these 3'ou require only- 
two books ; we are going to make them as simple 
as possible. 

I. 

In the first, called current expenses, you daily 
note the expenditures and receipts. Here is a 
model of the book which will enable you from the 
time you leave school to render an account to your- 
self of the employment of your money. 



36 



Household Science, 



Dates. 


i 


Details. 


C/2 


C/3 

It 

W 


Jan. 1S67. 










1st 


$300 


Remaining in my 
c\sh box from 
December. 

Alms. 


$3.00 




2nd 




To the cook. 


$ 1 5 . 00 




(< 




Bought a dress. 




$36 50 


3rd 


$35 50 


Received from — 
for ■ 

Paid for dress pur- 
chased on the 
2nd. 


$36.50 





N.B. — This book of current expenses should be 
regulated each evening, or belter still, if possible, 
the moment the expense is incurred. Therefore 
we advise you to leave it open on the table in 
your room, that it may remind you that you have 
something to write. 



Household Scic 



7 ice. 



37 



2nd. The current expenses should not be ex- 
pressed in details. For example, if the cook has 
her book where the price of each article is put 
down, you need only write in your book when yon 
are regulating your expenses: I'o the cook so 
muck. 

The second book, called a led^o , is a little more 
complicated, but offers, however, no great difficul- 
ties. It should contain first, a list of the sources 
of your yearly income, whether fixed or fluctuating. 
A list like the model below, as Avell as the one 
which follows, may answer for several years : 

LIST OF MY REVENUES. 





Rkc'd 

1867. 


Rec'd 
186 3. 


Rfc'i) 
iS6g 


Rent from 

Annuity. 

Rent fiom 

Produce of my 
work. 

Salary from 

Total. 









Rec'd 
1870. 



38 



Household Science. 



A list of yearly expenses which when regulated 
are generally about the same: 

LIST OF MY OBLIGATIONS. 



Paid 
1S67 



Paid 

1868. 



Taxes on 

Salary to 

Servants 

Interest to be 
paid on 



A list of generalexpen.es which include cur- 
rent expenses and a list of one's pecuniary obli- 
gations, require bu twelve pages a year, and a 
half hour at most ev 'ry month ; the book affords 
you an opportunity of rtgulating your expenditure 
according to your Income, and above all, allows 
you to see what you can modify or retrench in 
order that your accounts may balance. 



Paid 



Paid 
1870. 



HoiiscJiold Science, 



39 



LIST OF GENERAL EXPENSES. 





C/3 

o 


w 

in 

O 




Pi; 


W 

C/3 


• 






W 2 


p 


>- 






o 


£3 


Ph 




c4 








.« 


o 


£ 


Jan'y 















Provisions: Under this title you write all that 
comes on the table, whether bought in large or 
small quantities, particularly when the expense 
has been more than usual, owing to a dinner-party, 
or the visit of a friend. 

House: Rent, taxes, fuel, light, servants' 
vv^ages, washing. 

Unforeseen Expe}ises : Physician, medicines, ob- 
jects broken, renewed, expense of correspondence. 

Pleasures: Money given to the poor, to the 
church ; objects of luxury, subscription for maga- 
zines, music, journeys. 

For Myself: Clothes, shoes, toilet articles. 



40 Household Science. 

If I am so fortunate as to be able with my 
means to support a relative, or contribute to the 
support of a family. . . I will write in the last 
column — pension to be paid. All that we have 
written on this subject is really more difficult to 
read than to practice ; once your books are made, 
you do not know how interesting you will find it, to 
mark all these details. 

And this order, which in point of fact is wholly 
exterior, gradually penetrates into your interior life; 
one accustoms herself to regulate her conscience 
and her moral life as she regulates her expenses 
and her material life. 



SECOND RULE. 

TO KNOW HOW AND WHEN TO BUY. 

I. 

BUYING. 

Buying requires tact, discernment, a 
a habit of observation, of patience, and a 
little good luck. It is already evident that 
it is not an easy science. 

Without developing the qualities we 
have just mentioned we should simply say 
that knowing how to buy consists in a 
knowledge of the quality and price of 
things. 

This science can only be slowly ac- 
quired through the lessons of experience ; 
and we highly commend the practice of 
those mothers of families who with a ser- 
vant do their own marketing accompanied 
by one of their daughters in order that 
she may learn how to supply the wants of 
a household, and judge for herself with- 

41 



42 Household Science, 

out the advice of the seller, which is likely 
to be given in his own interest.* 

IS IT NECESSARY TO BARGAIN ? 

It is complained that women always 
bargain, yet one is sometimes obliged to, 
on account of the bad faith of many 
merchants. 

However, we would bargain less if we 
were better acquainted with the current 



*We know of a boarding school where the older girls 
towards the end of the year, accompany and assist their 
teachers in the different wholesale purchases, which are 
made for the house, and after the first ,s:eneral washing: 
they are sent for to witness the distribution of the linen, 
how it is ironed and put away, that thej' may know its 
quality and distinguish the fabrics, and finally as a species 
of recreation and reward they are permitted to go into the 
kitchen and prepare a little collation for their companions. 
To be sure this last exercise does not teach them too much 
economy but it accustoms them not to be afraid of the heat . 
of the kitchen fire or the large cooking apron, and teaches 
them the use and price of a great many things which they 
do not know. 

We have seen big girls take the prize of general history 
and natural philosophy who did not know how to make a 
cup of tea, and were quite astonished to learn that eggs 
were used in custard. 



Hotisehold Science, 43 

prices and value of the objects we are pur- 
chasing. If you wish to avoid discussion 
make the merchant a reasonable offer, 
politely resist his solicitations and if you 
are not satisfied go elsewhere. Tlie mer- 
chant has a sharp eye, he sees quickly 
wliether he is dealing with a novice or 
with one who understands shopping, 
your manner alone of asking for, ex- 
amining and c hoosing the merchandise will 
acquaint him with your knowledge on the 
subject, and if he sees that it is not your 
first attempt, if you are decided and 
polite, he seeks to deceive you less than he 
would another. 

He discovers very quickly also from 
your manner and particularly from your 
words whether he is dealing with one of 
those foolish women, who want to bargain 
no matter what the price is, who are never 
satisfied with anything, who have a habit 
of examining and having all the goods 
spread out before them and who fre- 
quently shop for mere pastime. 



44 Household Science. 

You either need to buy, or you do not. 
Make up your mind beforehand what 
you want. If you do not wisli to buy, 
what do you go to the stores for ? To 
weary the merchants and waste your 
money. 

HOUSES WITH A FIXED PRICE. 

In houses where the prices are fixed, 
shopping is more simple ; but you must 
still pay attention to the goods you buy. 

Those wonderfully cheap bazaars where 
nearly all their stock is the same price, 
such as dollar stores, are bewildering from 
their variety, and easily tempt one ; but 
it is rare that you are not deceived in 
what you buy. No article, no matter how 
it appears, is worth more than it is marked ; 
two-thirds of them are worth less, and 
could be bought cheaper elsewhere. 

Deal as much as possible with well- 
known and richly stocked houses ; you 
will not pay more for what you get, and it 
will be fresher and of better quality. 



House hold Science. 45 

Before choosing your usual trades- 
people try of course what those within 
your reach have to offer, but when you 
have once made a clioice rarely change. 

Good houses have to sustain their repu- 
tation and their custom also. 

Pay in ready money, or regularly at cer- 
tain fixed periods twice or tiiree times a 
year ; you will be better served, and you 
will pay less for what you get. Mer- 
chants know very well how to deduct from 
what they sell the interest on the money 
you withhold from them. The same rule 
applies to your employees, if you wish to 
be well served. A dress-maker, for ex- 
ample, will not keep you waiting for your 
dress beyond the time fixed for it, when 
she knows that her money is ready for her 
and will be given to her in exchange for 
her work. 

Choose the stores in the neighborhood of 
your house, if the prices are equal, or even 
though you should have to pay a itw cents 
more ; you will save time, and there are 



46 HoiiscJwld Science. 

days when time is more precious than 
money ; you will spare your servants long 
walks which only fatigue them and you 
save them from making dangerous ac- 
quaintances which they are liable to form 
in their long excursions back and forth 
through the same streets and at the same 
hours. 

THE SMALLER SHOPS. 

In recommending the large houses it 
was only in reference to wholesale pur- 
chases, supplies for the house, or impor- 
tant expenditures ; for those little things 
which you constantly require, such as 
needles, thread, laces, would it not be an 
act of benevolence to patronize those 
smaller stands, or some of those poor street 
venders who pass before your house bear- 
ing all their fortune with them ? 

The small sum of money which you help 
them to gain will bring them happiness, 
without impoverishing you. 



Household Science. 47 

Now these small sums of money, given 
to honest people, are tlie crumbs of our 
fortune, which God commands us to 
scatter in our path for the benefit of poor 
travellers 



II. 



BUYING EACH THING IN ITS OWN 
TIME. 

PROVISIONS. 

Knowing how to buy each thing in its 
own time is also the result of experi- 
ence, and becomes a fruitful source of 
economy. 

Provision is profusion^ says a proverb, 
and an unprovided house is constantly 
wanting for something. 

It is above all most necessary to know 
what things will keep without deteriorat- 
ing, and those which you must buy only 
as you need them. 



48 Household Science, 

BUYING AT WHOLESALE HOUSES. 

Once you have learned when to buy, 
buy at one time all tlie supplies you re- 
quire for the house, and buy in wholesale 
quantities. Besides the convenience of 
having what you need at hand you save 
for yourself tlie percentage which mer- 
chants make in selling to you at retail. 
You always lose in buying at retail. There 
is a special time for laying in supplies of 
fuel, vegetables, fruits ; it is necessary to 
know this time. 

BUYING GOOD MATERIALS. 

Always buy good materials ; even if you 
have to pay more for them, they are 
cheaper in the end, for they last longer. 

On principle be distrustful of buying 
cheap things which you do not need at 
the time. Nothing ruins one like bargains 
of this kind ; you always lose by them, even 
supposing that what you buy is good 



Household Science. 49 

(which does not often happen, for the bar- 
gain is generally at the expense of the ma- 
terial, or workmanship). 

For those articles which you do not 
need will never be useful to you, or they 
will have deteriorated, when the time 
comes for using them. In any case you 
have advanced money which you could 
have employed more usefully. 

Apply this rule to supplies for the table ; 
do not buy delicacies but always what is 
good and wholesome and occasionally buy 
the best. A poor dish is not eaten, but 
wasted, in hopes that the next will be 
better. Moreover, an ill-served table will 
make you, who are charged with buying 
the supplies, appear avaricious ; it will ex- 
cite the discontent of your family and irri- 
tate them against you. There is a jocose, 
though a very true saying, that the way 
to a man's heart is through his stomach. 
Do not forget it, or at least avoid giving 
those who are dependent upon you reason 
to complain of the table. 



50 HoiiscJiold Science. 

KNOWING HOW TO SELL. 

Know also bow to choose a favorable 
time for selling the surplus of your har- 
vests or products. As it is well to al- 
ways deal with the same trades-people, in 
like manner endeavor if possible to have 
regular purchasers who can rely upon 
your good faith and in whose honesty you 
can confide. 

But in selling as well as in buying, 
while seeking your own profit, avoid those 
little artifices and tricks resorted to by 
scheming people — which savor of bad 
faith. 

Our object is not commerce, we do not 
precisely desire to enrich ourselves, but 
to establish about us the order, labor, 
economy, peace and ease, which form the 
happiness of a family. 

We do not seek to accumulate riches 
Avhich frequently become a torment, but 
to have 

" Sufficient io s^ive aivay, 
Not enough to make its envied^ 



HoiiscJiold Science. 



MANIA FOR BUYING. 



Let us finally beware of that mania for 
buying which sometimes becomes a pas- 
sion. 

To this end let us avoid going to 
auctions, even to see tlie goods, or stop- 
ping to examine the enticing wares of 
vendors, or the articles temptingly ar- 
ranged in the shops, we subject ourselves 
to expending money on what we will find 
an encumbrance to-morrow, and we ac- 
quire a mania for curiosities, trifles fre- 
quently as expensive as they are ridicu- 
lous. Some women have in their rooms 
on elegant etageres or in drawers a perfect 
warehouse of useless, ridiculous articles. 
China pieces, transparent porcelain, 
marvels of delicate workmanship, which 
you scarcely dare to breatlie upon for 
fear of breaking, are only placed there, it 
would seem, to awaken etmui in the soul 
of the possessor and a smile on the lips 
of the beholder. 



52 Ho use] 10 Id Science. 

How is it that they have thus encum- 
bered themselves ? They went out firmly 
and decidedly resolved to buy nothing ; 
they were quite confident of themselves, 
but as they drew near the shops two dor- 
mant inclinations woke : first curiosity, 
then a desire for finery. 

Ah, if we were writing a code of morals, 
how much we would have to say of these 
tyrannical inclinations. 

Young girls^ beware of curiosity and 
love of finery. 

PRECAUTIONS. 

We conclude by a few counsels which 
will complete this second rule : 

ist. Never distrust anyone, but take 
precautions with every one. 

Do not think that they wish to deceive 
you, but that they may be deceived 
themselves. 

Verify the accounts of your domestics 
and trades-people; and always keep their 
receipts. 



Household Science. 53 

Have at home weights and measures, 
that you may be sure you do not pay for 
more than you receive. 

BUYING IN PERSON. 

Buy everything yourself as much as 
possible, do not leave it to otliers ; you 
will be better satisfied, and you know 
better what suits you. 

If you rely upon another to buy for 
you, you must be sure that she possesses 
two qualities sufficiently rare : fidelity 2.w^ 
discyiinination. A cook, for exami)le, will 
only buy what is all prepared or what will 
give her least trouble to prepare, or per- 
haps what she likes best. 

We will speak later of fidelity. Dis- 
crimination is perhaps more rare than 
fidelity. 

Few persons can be uninfluenced by the 
words of the vendor, his exaggerated 
commendations, his untruth uttered with 
imperturbable calm. 



54 H 021 sc hold Science. 

Few persons discover under a beauti- 
ful exterior the liidden defects of an ob- 
ject, to such great perfection is the art 
of imitation carried now. 

UTILIZING WHAT IS LEFT OVER. 

A special talent which saves much ex- 
pense is that of certain good housekeep- 
ers, who know how to utihze what is left 
over, and make the same thing serve two 
purposes. 

Thus the dessert from one meal pre- 
pared in a different way may be served at 
anotlier and form anew dish. 

A garment which is rather old-fash- 
ioned, may be transformed by a skilful 
hand and made serviceable for some time 
to come. 

In the same way the best parts of 
objects out of use can be selected, and 
put together ; they will form an object 
which will still be useful. This talent 
is called the art of making soniciJiing 



Household Science. 55 

out of nothing ; it has its seat in the heart, 
and all who are truly devoted know its 
first elements. 

THIRD RULE. 

SUPERINTEND EVERY THING AND BE- 
WARE OF WASTING IN LITTLE THINGS. 



TO HAVE AN EYE TO EVERYTHING. 

What we have just said in regard to 
buying and selling: Distrust no one, but 
take precautions with every one, finds its ap- 
plication also in this third rule. 

In regard to surveillance, do not entirely 
rely upon any one but yourself ; you alone 
have a real interest in the prosperity of 
your house ; doubtless it does not depend 
upon you alone, but it may be said that 
an impetus cannot be given to it and sus- 
tained without your presence. 

It was not without good reason that the 



56 Household Science, 

ancients used to say : The eye of the 
master sows money. 

A mistress of a house should see 

I St. That nothing is lost. — Therefore she 
must know all her possessions, she should 
make an inventory of the linen after each 
wash, every evening have the silver counted 
which has been used during the day and 
brought to her room. 

2nd. That nothing is spoiled. — She must 
know then the quality of everything, 
those things which will keep and those 
which will easily deteriorate ; in regard 
to provisions she should know thedifferent 
ways of keeping them ; she should reserve 
to herself the preparation of the more ex- 
pensive comestibles, preserves, and cor- 
dials, for example. Do we not see at once 
the need she has to know how to cook in 
order to superintend her kitchen and regu- 
late its expense ? We can only superintend 
well what we know how to do ourselves. 

3rd. That everything is done promptly. — 
She should visit all the house to see that 



Household Science. 



57 



it is clean, well aired, to order any needed 
repairs, to see that nothing is perverted 
from its proper use. 

4th. That everything is collected and 
carefully preserved, even those things which 
appear most useless. — She should therefore 
collect what is scattered about the liouse, 
what she finds in her rounds, what is out 
of use, and what the servants were about 
to throw away. 

All these should be placed in what is 
usually called the lumber room, and among 
them you are sure to find many things 
which will prove really useful in repairs 
of the house, or in affording comfort to the 
poor. 

To the recommendation of collecting 
everything, Ave would add that of making 
a domiciliary visit for a charitable purpose 
to all the nooks and corners. 

If you would find much riches let a 
poor mother of a family accompany you 
in your search. You will see how she will 
discover among that old furniture and 



58 Household Science, 

pieces of cloth treasures for her own house. 

''I can afford myself happiness with 
these old clothes," said one of these orderly- 
women. 

Moreover, if we liave been able to laugh 
at %vo7nen with geivgaivs, we have rarely 
seen one reduced to indigence who wiih 
wise forethought knows that everything 
in a house, paper, kitchen refuse, etc., can 
be used to some purpose. 

5th. Finally a mistress of a house should 
beware of being deceived. 

HOW ONE CAN BE DECEIVED. 

Now, they can deceive you : 

I St. By loss of time, when servants em- 
ploy for themselves time which should be 
devoted to the work of the house. Of 
cours ' they must have time to themselves 
to wash their clothes and mend thcni, but 
they require special surveillance in this 
respect. Sometimes they not only work 
for themselves but for strangers, which 



Household Science. 59 

procures them a slight emolument. It is 
particularly in the evening, when every 
one has retired, tluit this sup])lementary 
work is done. " It is my own time, I take 
it from my sleep," a servant will answer 
if you surprise her at this work. Yes, and 
consequently slie is unfitted for her duties 
next day, besides consuming oil, and risk- 
ing the many accidents which a lighted 
lamp can occasion. 

2nd. Tiiey can deceive you by having 
an itnderstanding with trades-people, who 
sometimes mark articles at more than their 
value, at more than the quantity or quality 
delivered to you, and share the money 
thus stolen with an unfaithful servant. 
The servant herself may add a few cents 
to the statement which she presents to you 
under pretext that she has made a good 
bargain and that consequently a little per- 
centage belongs to her. 

Go yourself sometimes and at different 
periods to make your own purchases at 
the market and in shops, and let all the 



6o Household Science. 

purchases for the house be made under 
your surveillance. 

3rd. They may cheat you by their^^;T^^/- 
nesSy taking for themselves a portion of 
what is meant for your table, such as rare 
fruits, delicacies ; by drinking or causing 
others to drink the wines destined for the 
table of the mistress. They may deceive 
you by a inistaken charity^ when they give 
to the poor more than the portion you 
have assigned for them, or what is more 
frequent, when they give to their poor 
relatives what comes from your table, or 
even your cast-off garments. Tliey de- 
ceive you by employing for the benefit of 
others what should only be used for the house. 
How frequently will not a laundress wash 
all the linen of her family before washing 
yours, thus stealing the time for which you 
pay her, and the soap which you furnish 
her. 

One sees by this exposition, though we 
have only mentioned a few of the usual 
artifices to which they resort, how neces- 



Household Science, 6i 

sary surveillance is, and also how necessary 
it is that the mistress of the house should 
be the last to retire at night, and the first 
to rise in the morning. 

MORAL SURVEILLANCE. 

Moral surveillance brings anxieties of a 
very different sort. It is not our object 
to speak of it here ; only comprehend well 
that honesty is not very enduring without 
practical piety ; a popular proverb says, 
the feeding of a passion costs more than 
the keeping of a horse in the stable. 

Let none grow in your heart, and seek 
to discover in order to destroy or weaken 
any which germinate in the souls of your 
servants. A passion for wine and for play 
is found more or less in the depth of the 
souls of men, and coquetry and love of 
admiration more or less in that of women. 

BEWARE OF WASTING IN LITTLE THINGS. 

We have already spoken of little wastes. 
When you quietly study the straitened 



62 Household Science. 

condition in which many families are 
found, it will be readily seen that this 
condition so closely approximating to 
poverty comes less from the insufficiency 
of their resources, than from a certain 
disorder in the household. Either throiiL^h 
indifference or indolence, they have failed 
to arrest this disorder, and this has 
been the daily cause of multitrdes of 
little wastes, unimportant in themselves, 
but which, in accumulating, have con- 
sumed a large portion of the income. 

It is a common saying that the hands of 
a. young girl are like a sieve, and that money 
slips through them. May not the same be 
said of some households ? Are there not 
holes in them, through Avhich the money 
gained each day unprofitably slips away ? 

And would it not be very useful to 
point out these holes ? Knowing them 
affords you a means of closing tiiem. 

THE WASTES IN A HOUSE. 

There are wastes of this kind in the 



Household Science. 63 

kitchen, in the preparation of expensive 
dishes, in what is sent from the table when 
they do not know how, or are unwiUing, 
to utilize it, in preparing too much for 
the table, in allowing things to spoil 
through want of experience or neglect. 

IN PURCHASES. 

There are wastes of this kind in pur- 
chases which are not really necessary, in 
those made at a time when the articles 
are more expensive, or by neglecting to 
superintend the purchases, and particu- 
larly in those suggested only by vanity, 
caprice, or impulse. 

For example, you see an object of art 
displayed at an exposition, you must 
possess it. 

Sometimes it is a toilette, which you 
have heard admired, therefore you also 
would excite admiration, etc. 

Frequently it is simply an attractive 
looking household article, for which, 
however, you have no use. 



64 Household Science, 

We have already spoken of the mania 
for collecting useless things ; there is also 
a mania for collecting useful things, which 
is no less expensive. 

Some women accumulate in their 
kitchens or their attics what would setup 
seven or eight families in housekeeping; 
and at each fresh purchase they say to 
themselves, like the children at whom they 
laugh : Just this one more, and they con- 
tinue to accumulate. Nothing is more use- 
less than this mania for collecting useful 
things, and nothing so quickly impover- 
ishes one. 

Mistrust your first impressions in re- 
gard to the purchase of an object. We have 
elsewhere told you, it is frequently only a 
whim, which will soon change into dis- 
gust when you have gratified it. Defer 
till to-morrow the purchase of an object 
which you desire and which is not abso- 
lutely neccessar} 



Household Science. 65 

IN NEGLECTED ACCOUNTS. 

There are wastes in neglecting little 
accounts and little expenses to which we 
]:>ay no attention. A cent is only a cent, 
but accumulated it makes a dollar. 

It is no doubt very tiresome to note all 
one's expenses, even to tlie amount of a 
penny, but there is a valuable lesson in 
all the lines of this expense book which 
reproach us each time we see them with 
our prodigality and foolish expenditure. 
A book of expenses faithfully kept is a se- 
vere judge which frequently causes us to 
blush, and we would be loath to show it 
to an intimate friend. Oblige yourself to 
mark expenses occasioned by your ca- 
prices, write them in detail ; a time will 
soon come when you will have none to* 
write. 

IN THE LINEN. 

There are wastes in the linen which is in 
jured by being left in a mass when it is 



66 Household Science, 

soiled, instead of being hung on lines in a 
large, well-aired apartment, when it is 
badly or carelessly washed through a want 
of superintendence, when you neglect to- 
mend it in time, or because you will not 
take the trouble to repair it. 

Superintend particularly the washing 
done out of the house ; it is principally 
in this way that the linen is injured ; they 
lose it, they exchange it, they tear delicate 
things by rubbing them on the board, and 
by wringing them violently, instead of 
pressing them. 

Alas ! we see here, and everywhere in 
fact, that it is difficult to be careful of 
what does not belong to us. It would be 
much better if the linen could always be 
washed at home. 

IN THE FURNITURE. 

There are wastes in furniture which we 
neglect to have repaired as soon as broken 
and which consequently becomes useless, 
when we neglect to examine it in order to 



Household Science. 6'j 

preserve it from dust and keep it in good 
repair. 

IN CLOTHES. 

There are wastes in clothes when they 
are too numerous or badly kept or neg- 
lected. 

" A great deal of linen and few dresses," 
says an old proverb. One indicates order, 
wealth, economy, the other vanity and 
disorder. 

The fashion changes so frequently in 
regard to the color and style of dress that 
a great number is at least a useless ex- 
pense. 

Garments generally should be hung 
rather than folded. Sometimes if they 
are of delicate fabrics, such as gauze, 
satin or velvet, they should be put in a 
coarse starched muslin bag, and always 
protected from dust, dampness and 
smoke. 

If you would keep moths from garments 
you must examine them frequently. 



68 Household Science, 

Doubtless aromatic plants, thj^me, laven- 
der or odorous substances, such as camphor 
or pepper, destroy the eggs and keep away 
moths, but the pungent odor of these 
tilings evaporates very quickly. Then 
devote a few hours every month to shak- 
ing your wardrobe. 

A STORY. 

We will pause here in our vocabulary 
of the wastes in a house, which has given 
us an opportunity of inserting a few prac- 
tical counsels ; the list would be much 
longer if we were to study particularly the 
wastes occasioned by vanity, greediness, 
etc. Do you wisli that as a conclusion 
to this third rule I should repeat to you 
a well-known story? It is very old, but 
perhaps all the better on that account. 

Two sisters engaged in the same busi- 
ness in different parts of the town, work- 
ing with the same zeal, obtained such 
different results that one of them seeing 



HotiscJiold Science, 69 

her fortune diminish, sought the other and 
said : 

" Why is it fortune treats us so differently? 
I am active and industrious ; I have good 
customers, each day I have good receipts, 
and yet at the end of the month I find an 
alarming deficit, while you are prospering. 
I am not jealous ; but tell me, have you 
any secret ?" 

"Yes, sister," said the other, '' look," (and 
she showed her suspended from her neck a 
little gold cross), "there lies a virtue 
which spreads through all my house." 

" I understand, you are pious ; but it 
seems to me that 1 fulfil my religious 
duties. I have not forgotten our mother's 
last words : ' Think of God, and He will 
think of you.' I think of Him and He 
forgets me." 

" It is not that, sister ; the virtue of this 
cross dwells in the cross itself. In the 
morning I wear it so, outside my dress, and 
I carry it in this way through all the 
house, to the cellar, to the attic, to the 



yo Household Science, 

shop ; I take it everywhere. It diffuses 
everywhere a something which causes 
everything to succeed with me. Here, 
would you like to have me lend it to you ? 
Try it just for a week and you will see." 

The young sister gratefully accepted and 
kissed the sacred talisman. 

She began the next day and carried it 
to all the parts of the house, not forget- 
ting the smallest corner. 

In this minute investigation of the house 
what disorder she discovered ! So many 
things deteriorating for the want of care, 
so many articles out of use, though still 
very good, and needing probably a very 
slight repair to make them useful ! 

In the cellar the wine badly kept, the 
oil uncovered, the bottles dirty ; in the 
kitchen a surplus of vegetables which were 
spoiling ; in the attic a pile of forgotten 
linen, grain gnawed by the rats ; then ac- 
int books in arrears, incomplete reg- 



cou 



isters. 

She saw all this and blushed. " Why !" 



Household Science, yi 

she exclaimed, " did I not see this 
sooner ?" 

The next day (one day was sufficient 
for her lesson) she returned to her sister, 
and embracing her restored her her cross 
saying: " I thank you for your good advice 
and for your delicate manner of giv- 
ing it. I understand, the prosperity of a 
house is due to the vigilant eye of a mas- 
ter." 

"As the prosperity of a soul," added her 
sister, " is due to the thought that the 
eye of the Master, who is God, sees and 
knows all." 

FOURTH RULE. 

SELECT, AND FORM GOOD SERVANTS. 
I. 

We take a great deal of trouble to 
find good servants, but very little to form 
them. 



*J2 Household Science. 

You wish that they should divine your 
tastes ; then take the pains to teach them 
what your tastes are, and do not exact 
that they should know them at once. 

You must know that a servant, however 
excellent she may be, has to be formed, 
not in regard to her duties as cook or 
chambermaid, but to your ways ; have 
then the patience to teach her. 

Remember, moreover, that however ex- 
cellent her qualifications, she has, as well 
as you, at least the defects of her class, 
which you must bear with. And of the 
two, mistress and maid, do you think it is 
the mistress who has the most to put up 
with ? 

If your servant is active, she will be 
irascible. If she is zealous, courageous, 
she will be quick-tempered. If she is 
prudent, she will have times of low spirits. 
If she is gentle and kind, she will be slow. 

If she is clever and intelligent, she will 
be inclined to resent recommendations or 
fault-finding. 



I 



Household Science, 73 

If she is devoted, she will be sensitive 
to the least coldness. Alas, she will be sub- 
ject to all faults like yourself. 

Do not even let it be too apparent to 
her that you know her faults. 

When you take a servant to whom you 
have to teach everything, the task is not 
only a difficult but a severe one. 

Happy the young girl who is able to 
take to her own house, a servant formed 
by her mother. 

Constantly showing and teaching is 
very wearying. 

A former pupil writing to her sister of 
her difficulties said : " The life at the 
convent is doubtless monotonous, but you 
are at least spared the vexations of 
housekeeping, and, believe me, that is a 
great deal." 

II. 

DUTIES TOWARDS SERVANTS. 

If servants have strict duties toward 
you, you also have duties toward them, 



74 Household Science, 

and you rarely complain of them, that you 
do not have something wherewith to re- 
proach yourself. 

It is not our object to speak here of 
' the care which their souls claim from 
you ; but remember that they will be 
faithful to you only in proportion as they 
are faithful to God ; and that God who has 
lent them for your service, will claim 
them of you one day, and ask of you an 
account of their conduct. 

There is a difference between you and 
your servants in the world ; there must 
be. But there is none before God, whom 
in common with you they call Father. 

Therefore we would like to see master 
and servants united at the end of each day, 
in family prayers. I remember a family 
where this custom existed ; after the 
evening prayer, which was said by the 
mistress of the house, an Our Father and 
Hail Mary was added to mutually ask 
pardon for any little pain they might 
have caused one another. 



I 



Household Science. 75 

And before separating, after giving the 
orders for the next day, a few kind, hope- 
ful words of affection and sympathy re- 
freslied and soothed those hearts which 
had been grieved, or which had felt the 
first germs of jealousy. And oh ! what 
affection and devotion existed in that 
family ! 

III. 

PRACTICAL RULES. 

Here without commentaries, which 
would take us too far, are a few practical 
rules which will be useful to you : 

Pay your servants punctually, and lielp 
them to invest their money without taking 
charge of it yourself. 

Never make them the confidant, either 
of your family vexations or disappoint- 
ments, whatever they may be ; acquaint 
them sometimes with your acts of charity, 
but do it unostentatiously. Never let 
them possess any of your secrets, however 



76 Household Scioice. 

trifling, lest in this way they should ac- 
quire an ascendancy over you. 

Know how to preserve your independ- 
ence, and to this end carefully avoid that 
familiarity which makes a servant a com- 
panion with whom you are fond of 
laughing and chatting freely, opening 
your heart to her, and voluntarily display- 
ing all your little weaknesses before her. 

This IS a difficult counsel to follow 
when one is young ; the susceptibility of 
a young girl's heart, the care her health 
requires, her sedentary, unoccupied life, 
bring her and her servant very much to- 
gether, particularly if the latter is young 
like herself. Therefore we add : Only 
ask of them services which you cannot 
render yourself ; fortunate are those who 
can usually make their toilets by them- 
selves. 

" It is rendering the richest children an 
eminent service," says Mme. Campan, *'to 
deprive them of the attentions of ser- 
vants." 



Household Science, yj 

If you have the happiness of possessing 
a sister about your own age, help one an- 
other, and rarely let a servant enter your 
little room. A young girl's room should 
be a sanctuary, where her mother alone 
should have the right to enter. 

Never listen to the reports which a ser- 
vant may desire to repeat to you, and 
never have the appearance of seeking 
news from her. Distrust her when she 
entertains you with something mysteri- 
ous, particularly if she forbids you to 
speak to your mother of the tales she re- 
peats to you, or the questions she asks you. 

Watch over your servants, but without 
tyrannizing over them, so that you may 
know who are their acquaintances and 
associates. 

Rigorously exact all the accounts, but 
do not show yourself avaricious. 

Keep them occupied without fatiguing 
them, and take great care of them; it is 
particularly when they are sick that they 
should see that they are of the family. 



78 Household Science, 

Regulate their food ; let everything be 
abundant, but no surfeit in anything 
surfeit will disgust them and make them 
exacting Let the food be varied, and 
from time to time more nourishing. Let 
them have their holidays, they will attach 
them more to their place ; and even on 
Sunday let them feel the comfort of that 
day of rest. Do not tire them by useless 
exactions and interminable bustle, the 
predominant fault of young girls in the 
enjoyment of their first liberty. For 
a trifling fault they overwhelm a poor girl 
with reproaches, returning to the subject 
a hundred times, and render their service 
almost unendurable. 

Be always kind and dignified, overlook- 
ing a multitude of little failings which will 
gradually be corrected. 

Do not insist that those who serve you 
should never forget anything. Is such a 
thing possible ? The moment you show 
ill-humor before your servant you lower 
yourself, and however little coolness she 



Household Science, 79 

retains she has the advantage of you. 
There is perhaps nothing more humiliating 
than to have to blush before an inferior. 

Let your orders be precise, and never 
give several at a time. 

Do not humble them by reproving them 
in public ; humiliation embitters, it never 
corrects. Above all, let your reprimands 
be free from precipitation or bitterness. 

Say a few words of encouragement to 
them before the others, and from time to 
time make them little presents which will 
be inexpensive to you but very precious 
to them from the manner in which they 
are conferred. 

Endeavor by means which we cannot 
here enumerate to interest them in your 
prosperity by allowing them to share in 
the different profits of your house * it is 
a thing easily done, particularly in the 
country. 

I knew a mistress of a house who 
promised 50 cents extra a week, but out of 
this extra allowance was deducted the 



8o Household Science. 

price of articles lost or broken through 
the negligence or carelessness of the cook. 
Is not this a means of making her atten- 
tive-and careful without exposing her too 
much to the temptation of hiding her 

wastes ? 

To resume all these counsels in a few 
words : Make yourself loved, and you will 
be well served. 

IV. 

BAD SERVANTS. 

We will not finish this chapter without 
saying a word of the daily tyranny to 
which you mav be subjected by a discon- 
tented, irreligious servant. Perhaps you 
will better understand your obligation to 
carefully choose a servant and to do every- 
thing in your power to maintain christian 
faith and practical devotion in those who 
surround you. 

This tyranny of a servant is all the 



House Jwld Science, Gl 

more irritating that it is exercised in a sort 
of intangible manner which you can never 
really take hold of. 

Thus in making your room she will 
daily change the position of some little 
object, knowing well that it annoys you, 
and it is such a trifle, you feel you can- 
not correct her for it. 

She will always find a means of not 
arranging your bed, the counterpane, the 
pillows as you like them, and if you re- 
prove her she will reply with the most in- 
nocent air in the world that she has made 
it exactly as you told her. 

She knows where your little treasures 
are, and gives you reason to suspect that 
she examines them without your being 
able to detect her in the act. 

She regards with a malicious smile the 
little mysteries of your toilet, and is 
pleased to let you know, without, however, 
your being able to reprove her for it, that 
she is aware of all you do to please. Slie 
divines what brings joy to your counte- 



o2 Household Science, 

nance, or clouds to your brow, and prof- 
its of her knowledge to annoy you. 

She can tell by the sound of your bell, 
whether you are in haste, and she will 
manage to come a little late, appearing 
quite out of breath, and begging your 
pardon with the most apparent good faith 
in the world. 



** Is it not truly most horrible suffering," 
adds a man of genius, '* to find yourself 
in the clutches of a wicked, mocking crea- 
ture, whom you feed and clothe, and who 
repeals abroad (you have good reason to 
suppose) all that goes on in your house, 
and whom frequently you cannot send 
away, so pleasing and amiable does she 
make herself to those who visit your 
house !" 

Another species of tyranny less pain- 
ful, but more sad. 

Read the following conversation, which 
was overheard in the kitchen between a 



i 



Hotiscliold Science, 83 

servant of the bouse, and the servant of a 
lady who was visiting in the parlor at the 
time : 

" My mistress is not capricious^" said 
the servant of the house, doubtless an- 
swering a question of the other servant. 

" Come, now," replied the other, with an 
incredulous laugh, " you never will make 
me believe that your young lady is not 
cross and peevish, and does not make you 
feel it, when, for example, her hair is not 
dressed to suit her, or the dress-maker 
sends home a dress which does not set off 
her figure well, or she has been disap- 
pointed at a party, eclipsed by some 
young lady more elegantly dressed, or 
when having slept badly, her eyes are red 
and swollen." 

" In the first place. Miss — dresses her 
own hair ; she makes her dresses herself, 
or has them made under her eyes ; she 
goes to few parties, and then I have never 
seen her with swollen eyes. 

" If she has trials, and I know she has, I 



84 Household Science. 

can assure ,you she knows well how to 
avoid changing them into ill-temper; she 
is habitually pleasant with us." 

" But she is a miracle, that mistress of 

* 

yours !" 

" A miracle, no ; a saint, yes." 

"Mine hasn't gotten that far yet. She 
is good at heart, generous, even lavish at 
times, but giddy and whimsical ; no one 
has been able to stay with her two years. 
Often she will give you ten orders at once 
and, they all completely contradict one 
another." 

" What do you do then ?" 

"My goodness, I don't obey one of them. 
Do you suppose she herself remembers 
that long list of orders ? And if on see- 
ing me she does recall what she has said 
to me she flies into a temper, calls me all 
tlie names imaginable, and threatens to 
dismiss me the first opportunity she has." 

"And what do you do ?" 

"I quietly wait till the storm is over; 
as soon as it begins to clear, I try to find 



L 



Household Science. 85 

some very entertaining piece of news. I 
venture a word, and if my mistress listens, 
which usually happens, I am saved, and 
we fall to chattering at such ;i r;ite that 
you would take us for two comrades. Oh ! 
I know very well what she can never re- 
sist : a little compliment skilfully man- 
aged, a comparison in her favor between 
her and some of the young ladies whose 
society she frequents, an artful word of 
detraction, a glimpse of a mystery, the 
relation of a little scandal. 

" There are so many means by which a 
rather clever servant can rule a vain young 
girl !" 

"But this is frightful!" 

******* 

Yes, it is frightful ! Certainly that ser- 
vant is very wrong to so abuse the ascend- 
ancy which the weakness of her mistress 
affords her ; but can the mistress be with- 
out blame ? 

Oh ! for your own interest be virtuous, 
and make those about you virtuous. 



86 Household Science, 

FIFTH RULE. 

WISELY APPORTION YOUR DAY. NECES- 
SITY OF THIS RULE. 

This is the last general rule we have to 
give. 

We cannot manage our means when we 
do not manage our time, and we can never 
fulfil all our obligations if we do not know 
how to accomplish each one at the time 
fixed for it. 

They are numerous, no doubt : sur- 
veillance, neatness, purchases, receptions, 
the care which the objects in ihe house 
require, etc., etc., but bear in mind this 
reflection from another work : *' Have 
you ever remarked how much a wardrobe 
can contain when each thing is in its 
place and all the compartments are full? 
The hours of the day are so many com- 
partments made to receive our actions. 
Oh ! how many actions we can put in 
them if we let no hour escape without 



Household Science, 



V 



being well filled." — Little Virtues. Let us 
add that life is a tissue of duties linked 
one within the other. We cannot break 
one link of this chain without causing 
disorder more or less irreparable. 

It is impossible to determine very pre- 
cisely how a mistress of a house should 
employ her day. A woman who, under- 
standing the duty God has imposed upon 
Iier, desires to perform it to sanctify her- 
self, will know how to employ the hours 
of each day in such a manner that she 
will not be behind in any one of her 
obligations. 

Nothing is more ingenious than love, 
and if she loves her family, every hour 
she will feel the happiness of adding to 
their comfort, nor will she fail to find the 
necessary means. Nothing is strong like 
love, and this same labor which performed 
with aversion would overwhelm and prey 
uponherconstitution, will, on the contrary, 
animate her courage and bring to her lips 
the smile of health. 



88 Household Science, 

God has created you for action and 
sacrifice ; leave to those who aspire not 
to the rest of heaven the idle, sensual, sel- 
fish repose of this earth, or the exaggerated 
parade of their labor. 

You, my child, labor and suffer, but hide 
from those who are dear to you the self- 
denials of which your life is composed. 

It costs, not to lose one's time and ful- 
fil all one's duties ; it costs to spend one's 
life in devotion and self-denial, that is, in 
the continual sacrifice of self to others. 
But courage. God counts and inscribes 
in heaven all your trials, all your weariness. 



II. 



A FEW RULES. 

We only suggest here that 

Every mojith — you look over the ac- 
counts, examine the state of the provisions, 
and the linen without, however, letting this 



b 



Household Science, 89 

review interfere with the general inventory 
which should be made each year. 

Every week — you pay the workmen all 
little outstanding debts, change the table- 
linen, have the kitchen well cleaned, so 
that everything will look bright on Sunday. 

Every day — the morning is the only time 
of which a woman can regularly and ab- 
solutely dispose, as she is not then dis- 
turbed by visitors, therefore the mistress 
of a house should devote it to the interior 
cares of the household — viz., general sur- 
veillance, the orders to be given or re- 
peated, the attention to the general neat- 
ness and cleanliness of the house; and she 
should only pause when she sees all her 
people at work and she has repaired the 
disorder which each morning presents, 
particularly in a sleeping apartment. 

Each evening we should prepare the 
next day's work, that we may be able to 
begin it in the morning without delay, 
but at the same time this need not 
prevent our leaving the apartment in 



90 HouseJwId Science. 

perfect order before retiring for the 
night. 

There is nothing more conducive 
even to repose of mind and body than 
the practice of never retiring at night 
without putting everything in tlie parlor 
and kitchen in its proper place. En- 
deavor to make your morning as long as 
possible by having a fixed and early hour 
for rising. 

You will animate your servants, and you 
will bring to your own countenance that 
freshness unknown to women who rise 
according to their caprice ; you will 
strengthen your health and afford your 
soul that sweet joy which is born of con- 
quered sensuality. 

MORNING PRAYER. 

Is It necessary to remind a young girl 
of her morning prayers? Oh ! my child, 
do not forget the God of your childhood, 
of your convent life. Then prayer seemed 



Household Science. 91 

to you but a grateful duty, sweet to your 
heart, and the natural expression of your 
loving soul ; it becomes now a necessity 
and support. 

At school your life was composed of 
innocent pleasures and duties rendered 
easy by affection. But now, in your family, 
with til at anthoritv which nt first seemed 
to you so flattering, will come trials and 
weariness ; not unfrequently you will have 
to bear them alone. Faithfully pray to 
God, my child ; you will need Him. Prayer 
will animate your will, redouble your 
forces, multiply, so to speak, the hours of 
your day. " Let me have time to pray," 
said St. Vincent of Paul, " and I will have 
time to do everything." Prayer will 
strengthen you for the struggle, it will 
sheler you from many dangers. Oh ! if 
you knew what neglecting their morning 
prayers had cost some young girls. 

I do not say that it will shelter you from 
temporal losses or physical suffering ; but 
I assure you that it will prevent misfor- 



92 Household Science. 

tunes a thousand times more painful than 
poverty or illness. Then rarely, and but 
for very grave reasons, leave your bed- 
room witliout kneeling to say your morn- 
ing prayers. This morning salutation to 
God will bring you the former happiness 
of your mother's kiss. 

AFTERNOON. 

The afternoon is devoted to visits, cor- 
respondence, different manual labors, 
either alone or with others, finally to 
studies which one may wish to continue. 
In the visits which you make or receive, 
except formal visits, always have some 
work in your hand. Ridiculous affecta- 
tations disappear, frivolous gossiping 
conversations are modified, idle, noisy 
laughter ceases when some occupation 
engages the attention without too much 
absorbing it. Do not imagine, moreover, 
that there are societies where work is not 
admissable ; it is quite admissable in the 



Household Science 93 

best society, and every woman not per- 
verted by coquetry well knows that a 
needle, thimble and scissors adorn better 
than diamonds the most delicate hands. 
We will not speak of the hours for meals. 
Each family has its own customs, which 
must be resi)ected. 

The evening is for recreation and should 
be spent as much as possible in the sweet 
intimacy of the family circle in the alter- 
nate enjoyment of music, games, conver- 
sation, attractive reading. We will speak 
on this subject later. 

THE END OF THE DAY. 

And then when all the household has 
retired, the young mistress, after her well 
filled day, hastens to her own room, the 
pious sanctuary where, far from the noise 
of the world, she seems to find herself 
again alone with God. In her little room, 
filled with souvenirs, is a priedieu, a 
crucifix, a statue of the Blessed Virgin, a 



94 Household Science. 

few pious books, and frequently an open 
note book. And kneeling here the pious 
young mistress opens her heart to God 
when it has been grieved by injustice 
or ingratitude, and forgets and pardons all. 
When her vanity has been wounded by 
failure or by one of those deceptions so 
frequent in the world, she blushes for her 
weakness and promises to be stronger and 
less susceptible on the morrow. When 
her soul has failed, when a sliglit duty has 
been omitted or voluntarily neglected, she 
asks pardon. Sometimes she weeps. Oh ! 
her trials are heavy at times ! Children, 
you cannot understand them now, but know 
only this, that nothing great is effected 
without sacrifice. She weeps, but each 
tear as it silently flows on her cheek re- 
peats to God : Thy will be done ! She 
reproaches herself for not being suffi- 
ciently devoted, sufficiently charitable, 
sufficiently forbearing. She will love 
better to-morrow. 

Sometimes in her journal, which her 



Household Science. 95 

Angel Guardian alone will read, she writes 
the most touching impressions of her day, 
and the resolutions she has just taken. 
Other times she reads, in order to surround 
her soul with a more peaceful atmosphere, 
a few pages from the Following of Christ. 
And kissing her crucifix and statue of 
Mary which she brought with her from the 
convent, she recommends all her dear 
ones to them. And extinguishing her 
lamp she quietly retires and falls to sleep 
murmuring : Our Father^ who art in 
heaven. 



SECOND PART. 

The Comfort of a Family. — What is Comfort. 



Comfort ! That is a delightful word, it 
needs no explanation to be understood ; 
perhaps it is more easily understood than 
explained. Comfort is being free from 
suffering, it is repose, it is enjoyment; the 
triple aspiration of all our hearts, im- 
possible to be completely realized in this 
life, but we are certainly permitted to seek 
to gratify it within the limits imposed by 
duty. 

Now we are never so well off anywhere 
as there where Providence itself has placed 
us, in that Jiome of more or less extent 
which God has given to each one. Oh ! 
if we knew how to love this home, what 
faults, what remorse, what weariness, we 
would save ourselves ! But if we would 

96 



Household Science, 97 

love it, we must not neglect it and leave 
it bare and unattractive. We would not 
love nature did the trees only present 
to our gaze their naked branches. It 
must please us ; the heart must there 
find more repose than elsewhere, the mind 
attractions, tlie senses themselves notliing 
to unfavorably impress them, in a word we 
must adorn it. 

IN WHAT DOES THE ADORNMENT OF HOME 
CONSIST, AND UPON WHOM DOES IT 
DEPEND ? 

There Is an adornment which depends 
upon the good dispositions of those who 
compose the family, \\\ on their sweet, 
clieerful tempers, upon their strengtli ni 
bearing the little vexations of every-day 
life. We are not directly concerned with 
tliis subject to-dny. We will only remark 
that this adornment of which we speak 
depends more than one Would suppose on 
the tact' of the woman whom God has 
placed in the family. 



98 Household Science. 

'•The moment," says amoral writer,"that 
a woman passes the threshold of a house 
she becomes its soul." If everything is 
not done by her, at least she inspires and 
directs all. She may hide and dissimu- 
late her authority ; she can never suppress 
her influence. She irritates or consoles, 
sustains or discourages. Happiness or 
sorrow — all come from her. God has 
placed her at man's side to calm him, to 
soften all that is hard in his life, cruel in 
his trials, wicked in the irritation of his 
temper. Under the influence of her 
cheerful smile, ruffled faces are calmed, 
angry murmurs cease. She has at her 
command loving words and intonations 
of voice which take possession of the 
heart. 

She commands with skill and wisdom ; 
without clashing against fixed ideas she 
ingeniously combats them; all her art 
consists in concealing that she is in oppo- 
sition with him, whom she seeks to lead 
to her wishes. 



HouseJwld Science. 99 

Ob ! young girls, if you would be truly 
virtuous, how many souls you would lead 
to heaven ! 

DIVISION OF THIS SECOND PART. 

Besides this adornment, which is the 
result of virtue, there is another, wholly 
exterior, which enters very much into the 
comfort of home ; this latter depends in 
general on order, which practically studied 
contains : 

ist. The ornamentation of the house. 

2nd. The material arrangement of the 
house. # 

3rd. The science of details. 

4th. Diversions. 

We set aside the general considera- 
tions on order, its utility, its influence, of 
which we have already treated in Little 
Virtues. 



100 Household Science, 



CHAPTER FIRST. 

ORNAMENTATION OF THE HOUSE. — CHOICE 
OF FURNITURE. 

This ornamentation consists first in the 
choice of furniture. 

Furniture is necessary, and the first 
duty of the mistress of a house sliould be 
to examine what she has about her, and 
gradually procure herself what she needs. 

Limit yourself to what is necessary; all 
useless and exaggerated expense repre- 
sents a capital which yields nothing and 
diminishes the family income. 

Good sense, together with good taste, 
will counsel you to get furniture which is 
useful rather than elegant, comfortable 
rather than showy, durable rather than 
costly, and which will not be out of keeping 
withtherestof thefurniture ; elaboratesilk 
curtains, for example, with plain rep chairs 
and a simple table, indicates a false luxury 



House] 10 Id Science. loi 

which savors of indigence. Do not try to 
have the same kind of furniture which you 
see in the houses ot your richer friends, 
or a complete set of any extravagant 
fashionable style. That is only permitted 
to large fortunes and ridiculously vain 
characters. 

There is nothing ridiculous in being 
poor, but there is something very ridiculous 
in desiring to appear rich when you are 
not. The world, while flattering, ridicules 
that foolish ostentation and the puerile sat- 
isfaction which vain minds feel in exciting 
admiration by the luxury of thier surround- 
ings. Leave such foolish pleasures to 
empty hearts. 

If you knew how many real miseries, 
poignant sorrows, and physical tortures 
have paid for this luxury, you would be 
frightened. With certain people fashion 
and appearance are necessities ; the family 
room and the table are superfluities, and 
from these superfluities incredible retrench- 
ments are daily made. Therefore what 



102 Household Science, 

happens? AVithout considering the mis- 
erable life of constraint and ill-humor 
which these vain creatures lead, if they 
succeed in deceiving othersthey are envied, 
if they fail they are disgraced. I give you 
credit for too much good sense to allow 
me to suppose you would do anytliing of 
the kind. 

Elegant furniture is not reprehensible 
when one's fortune permits it, as it gives a 
meansoflivelihood to many workmen, but it 
is not to be sought for all at once ; and, 
mereover, this display of luxury repels 
friends whom an elegant simplicity would 
attract to your home. 

One is not at ease in the midst of a 
pomp and luxury which suggests in the 
host pride and a love of display. 

Then at first prefer to have what is 
comfortable and what is necessary, rather 
tlian what is elegant. Your purse will 
supply what is necessary, your fingers 
more elegance. 



I 



Household Science^ 103 

OLD FURNITURE. 

Fortunate are those persons who have 
not to concern themselves about the 
furnishing of their homes, but find in them 
old family pieces not only ornamental but 
filled with sweet memories. 

That sofa where we have been accus- 
tomed to see a dear father or n^other re- 
clining ; that waidrobe which still contains 
the linen which was left to us ; that car- 
pet which witnessed our infant sports ! 
Oh ! Let us never part with them. There 
is a species of sacrilege in selling them 
or setting them aside in some obscure 
corner of the house. The dwelling which 
strips itself of such souvenirs is soon 
stripped of virtues. Let us preserve our 
old furniture for the repose of our bodies 
as we look to old friends for the repose of 
our hearts. The new perhaps is more 
showy, but it is certainly less solid. If our 
position requires it have a parlor for others, 
furnished according to the taste of visitors ; 



I04 House Jiold Science, 

but let us preserve our house for ourselves, 
and let us not banish the old witnesses of 
our first years. 

•II. 

NEATNESS. 

Adornment consists, secondly, in neat- 
ness everywhere and in everything, particu- 
larly in those things which more nearly ap- 
proach the person, as food and linen. 

Not only does health depend upon 
cleanliness, but let us not forget it, activity, 
good humor, interior satisfaction as well, 
and even morality in some respects de- 
pends upon it. 

It is in houses lacking in cleanliness that 
idleness, weariness and general discontent 
prevail. Shining, well-polished furniture 
attracts the sun and seems to multiply its 
rays by reflection. Neat and carefully 
kept rooms indicate a contented soul, re- 
flect happiness, and seem to invite repose. 

A lady is judged at once by the order 



Household Science. ic5 

in which she keeps her room. " I knew a 
person," says Mme. Campan, "who in order 
to determine her opinion of the ladies 
of her acquaintance never found herself 
alone at their houses without lifting up 
the sofa cushions, and if she discovered 
behind them half-finished work, a handker- 
chief, a ribbon, she used to say, I am in 
the house of a careless, untidy woman." 

Elegance and luxury can never take the 
place of cleanliness, whereas, cleanliness, 
which, as we already remarked in Little 
Virtues, preserves garments, promotes 
health, adds freshness to the complexion, 
and can perfectly dispense with the ruin- 
ous aids of coquetry. 

PRACTICAL COUNSELS IN REGARD TO THE 
CLEANLINESS OF A HOUSE. 

Here are some practical counsels given 
by a man of good sense to a young girl 
about to begin housekeeping : 

*' Busy yourself about the interior of 



io6 Household Science. 

the house ; see that the halls and floors 
are swept if necessary several times a day 
and \vaslied several times a week. See 
that all the metal about the house shines, 
that the furniture is well polished, and let 
the earthen and porcelain ornaments on 
the eiagere be as bright as mirrors. Do 
not allow the spider to peacefully spin his 
web in the corners and angles of the 
rooms. Do not let the oil lamps drain 
dry and become rancid on the chimney 

mantel." 

Now for the means of following these 
counsels : You can brighten copper and 
iron by rubbing them with a handful of 
sorrel, or fine sand, or potters' clay. You 
can always brighten silver with sorrel 
and with soap-suds, even when it is dis- 
colored with egg. You can polish your 
andirons and stove by rubbing them first 
with a raw onion, then by spreading black 
lead over them with a brush, and rubbing 
them again with a woollen cloth. 

You can give something of a glaze to 



Household Science. 107 

furniture, however poor it may be, by rub- 
bing it vigorously with yellow wax melted 
in lye water or wood ashes, which is the 
same thing. 

Persons will probably say to you, why 
do you waste so much time and pains in 
such minuti^ ? But let them not deter 
you. Nothing is so attractive as the ap- 
pearance of a kitchen where the copper is 
changed to gold afid the tin to silver by the 
orders of an energetic mistress. 

The kitchen, says a woman of the world, 
is a reflection of the house. Enter it, il 
you would judge of the house. Walls dis- 
colored by flies, yellow with smoke, win- 
dows without sashes in Summer, a damp, 
uneven floor, ashes and rubbisli in a corner, 
all this announces disorder, waste, and 
presages many hours of ill-humor. 

To conclude, exaggeration in cleanli- 
ness is permitted ; sufficient in this case 
is too little. 

But habitual neatness requires a strength 
of will and constancy which is not com- 
mon. Weak characters are not neat. 



io8 Household Science, 

III. 

FITNESS OF DRESS. 

The adornment consists, thirdly, in the 
fitness of your dress, which should be not 
only neat but suitable to your position 
and age. We do not desire to dwell upon 
this last, which sterns of little consequence 
to you at present ; it is certain, neverthe- 
less, that many women make themselves 
very ridiculous endeavoring by means of 
their youthful dress to persuade the world 
that they have never gotten beyond their 
twentieth year. 

Can you not recall the amusing smiles 
and sarcastic words exchanged between 
your companions at sight of one of those- 
toilets of delicate rose pink or pale yellow, 
affectedly setting forth a waist squeezed to 
appear slender under the springs of a too 
visible corset and surmounted by a face the 
wrinkles of which, despite a good coating 
of powder, attested its long service? 



Household Science* log 

They will laugh at yon also if you give 
them cause ; you will not always be 
eighteen ; a time will come when you will 
realize that your youth is passed. . . 
Always know how to dress and conduct 
yourself, my child, with a dignity suitable 
to your age. 

We have not to concern ourselves 
directly about toilet ; but we would fain 
earnestly persuade you that besides this 
exterior toilet which you assume to please 
the eyes of the world, there is an interior 
toilet which must be the object of your 
care if you would make yourself loved by 
your family. 

For the former, good taste and affection 
always sufifice. 

Let your dress be such that you can 
present yourself before strangers without 
having to blush for your negligence. Is 
it not ridiculous that a lady should be 
obliged to run the moment she perceives 
visitors ? A simple, neat dress, but in 
good taste, protected by a kitchen apron, is 



no Hojischold Science, 

nothing to be ashamed of, but rather a 
recommendation. Moreover, nothing de- 
creases the respect due us from inferiors 
like neghgence in dress which seems to 
make us their equals.- Even in her work- 
ing dress in the midst of her servants, tlie 
mistress of the house should be recog- 
nized by her costume. Not only should 
she know better how to wear it, but she 
should also know how to soil it less. She 
should further accustom herself to dress 
several times a day if necessary ; do it so 
quickly that her absence need not be 
noticed. A woman of taste and good 
sense will easily improvise a toilet which 
is always tasteful and suitable for the 
occasion ;" and it cannot be said of her as 
it was of another, her day is composed of 
three different actions, " dressing, un- 
dressing, and chattering." 



HoitscJiold Science^ m 



CHAPTER SECOND. 

THE MATERIAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE 

HOUSE. WHENOE COMES THE ART OF 

KNOWING HOW TO ARRANGE A HOUSE. 

The arrangement of a house depends 
doubtless on the education one has re- 
ceived, but it is particularly the result of 
a certain tact in discerning what is 
prettiest and most suitable. Order and 
neatness may become wholly mechanical ; 
it is possible to train a servant to put 
everything in its place and keep every- 
thing free from dust ; but the arrange- 
ment of the house is an instinct of the 
soul, and even of virtue. 

It is said of certain persons, that there 
is magic in their touch. It is true, but 
the magic is not in their touch, it is in 
their souls. 

Everything is transformed under their 
hand ; curtains they hang fall into more 



112 Household Science, 

graceful folds, the tapestry they choose 
has a fresher appearance, the furniture 
they arrange shows to better advantage, 
and their flowers are more brilliant. 

Such persons are more than a treasure, 
they are the happiness of a family. 

Your readings at school, your studies, 
the example of your teachers, the care of 
your linen, of your books, of tlie chapel, 
will initiate you into these graceful se- 
crets, which you should earnestly desire 
to learn, and which Avill transform what 
seemed an almost uninhabitable house 
into a delightful dwelling. 

ON WHAT THIS ARRANGEMENT DEPENDS. 

This arrangement depends on so few and 
Fomany things. It is not certain furniture, 
pictures, flowers, or manner of arranging 
a room which effects it ; it is all this, and 
something more. It lies in the hand 
wliich places the different objects ; it is 
an indescribable somethings which suits the 



House Jiold Science. i : 3 

taste of tlie persons of the household. If 
there is question of arranging a parlor, 
simply consult your good taste and your 
memory a little. You will soon know the 
art of adorning your mantel-piece, of 
l)lacing your pictures, of harmonizing the 
colors of the furniture with the tapestry 
and carpet, of placing a handsome album 
on the centre table, of perceiving and re- 
moving at once any object out of keeping 
which could shock the eye. 

When it is the room of those whom 
you love — your father, your grandmother, 
more advanced m age, who can no longer 
procure herself a little pleasure, consult 
your heart and what you know to be their 
taste. 

Let your father's linen be always spot- 
less, and let him know that it is your 
care ; linen is almost the only luxury of a 
man, and he expects it when he knows it 
is the care of a loving hand. 

Take charge yourself of his writing- 
desk, lest a servant might disarrange his 



114 Household Science. 

letters and papers. Let it be your care 
that there are flowers on bis chimney 
mantel, that his fire never goes out in 
winter. See that his paper is always in 
its place, and that when he goes to dress, 
he always finds his things in the same 
place, ready to put on. 

Surround your grandmother with 
those delicate attentions which old people 
miss and hesitate to ask for. 

Remove from her room anything which 
could encumber it, or make it unhealthy, 
but supply her abundantly with delicacies 
or any light dainties which you know she 
fancies. 

Old people cling to old things, and like 
objects which have long served them ; 
place within her reach the books of former 
years, never change anything without her 
consent, and even should her arrangement 
of an object be out of keeping, respect her 
wishes. If she imagines she can still be 
useful, supply her with all she asks ; dis- 
play and praise her industry and success ; 



Household Science 115 

ask her advice in everything. Her room 
should be the most comfortable, and the 
best kept, 

YOUR ROOM, 

In regard to your own little room, con- 
sult your soul, and let it reflect its candor, 
its innocence, and its beautiful simplicity. 

Let the tapestry be of a fresh, delicate 
shade, the curtains of your windows and 
your bed ahvays white, have few costly 
pictures, but many souvenirs ; your first 
communion picture, the diploma of your 
sodality, in a large frame all the pictures 
given you as a token of reward or friend- 
ship, and each bearing the name of a 
teacher or a friend. On the mantel few 
flowers, a few fresh ones simply, fre- 
quently renewed, before the little altar of 
a statue of the Blessed Virgin. 

Let all the embroidery or fancy articles 
be done by yourself or school companions 
wdio have given them to you as souvenirs ; 
let white curtains of some light fabric 



ii6 HonseJiold Science, 

gracefully arranged, keep from view 
all the articles of your toilet. 

On your writing table place your little 
library, you?' own, composed of your 
prizes and gifts, and of a few of those 
pious books which nourish the soul, and 
sustain the life of the heart. We told 
you in the first part of this* book, that 
your room was a sanctuary ; let it not be 
despoiled of those qualities which make 
a sanctuary loved — recollection, order, 
and piety. Keep it fresh and simj^le, and 
it Avill give you innocent thoughts. 

THE ADVANTAGES OF THE MATERIAL AR- 
RANGEMENT OF A HOUSE. 

The first advantage of this care is, as we 
have just said, that it makes home attrac- 
tive : the second that it furthers economy. 

Our plan only permits us here to simply 
mention : 

I St. The arraiigcfiient of the household 
supplies. Certain things need to be kept 



Household Science, 117 

in a dry place, others require the sun. 
Some will spoil unless left in the shade 
and are improved by being kept for a cer- 
tain time. Those objects used most fre- 
quently sliould be kept at hand. 

2nd. The arrangement of your effects. 1 1 
is necessary to know how to so place tlieni 
that you can have easy access to tliem and 
get what you want at any moment with- 
out upsetting the good order in which you 
keep them ; to fold them in such a way 
that they will be neither tumbled or 
wrinkled, and arrange them in their places 
with a certain taste. 

In some educational houses, each month 
the pupils are obliged to take all their 
linen out of tlieir wardrobes ; first to clean 
the compartments, and then to accustom 
tlie young girls to put away their linen 
neatly, to lold it smoothly ; and to teacli 
them to do this |jromp:ly only a short time 
is allowed them for the task. 

3rd. The arrangement of the furniture. 
Those pieces which need to be covered 



Ii8 Household Science, 

when the fire is made, and might be in- 
jured by smoke, those which require more 
care on account of the delicacy and finish 
of the workmanship. Experience, which 
teaches all things, will show you the ne- 
cessity of never deferring even for a day 
placing each object according to its des- 
tination. What losses, what expenses have 
been occasioned by that word so dear to 
laziness: To-moj'raw ! The well known 
proverb : Neve?- put off till to-morrow what 
you cciJi do to-dayy should be repeated each 
evening to the mistress of a house ; and 
she who never retires without putting 
everything in order in her room, is very 
sure of having a more peaceful sleep and 
a sweeter awakening. 

This habit of arranging each thing in 
its place prevents them from being mis- 
placed or lost. A vacant place shows us 
that an object is missing, and reminds us 
to look for it before it is entirely lost. 

It accustoms her particularly never to 
leave closets and drawers open, and to 



Household Science 119 

keep under lock and key all that could 
tempt cupidity or curiosity. It also helps 
to make her faithful in writing not only 
her receipts and expenditures, but from 
time to time those little events in a family 
which bring sometimes joy, and some- 
times pain. This is what we call, 

KEEPING A JOURNAL. 

We would not counsel each one of you 
to keep 7\. journal. These outpourings of 
the soul are not done by rule, they are 
inspiration. 

Since the publication of those sweet, 
fresh poetic pages of Eugenie de Guerin, 
we have known many young girls to begin 
a journal of their daily impressions. 
Though possessed of talent and a good 
style they produced nothing but common- 
place expressions; for they were urged 
by a motive of petty vanity. They as- 
pired to tlie fame of Eugenie ; Eugenie 
only sought to give pleasure to her brother. 



120 Household Science. 

If sometimes you feel the need of open- 
ing your lieart ci.-'.d Sv^ui, let your journal 
be to yoa aa intimate friend, and always 
write in ilic presence of your Angel Guar- 
dian. 

There is, believe me, ineffable sweetness 
in these outpourings of the heart. 

And later, when you read of these joys 
which you exj)erienced, these trials which 
you have undergone, your good resolu- 
tions and your efforts to become better, 
when you find ngain in these pages loved 
names which perhaps you have almost 
ceased to mention, oh ! what memories 
shall be awakened in your heart ! 

We know more than one young girl, for- 
getful of her duty, who has been brought 
back to God by reading a little journal 
written at the period of her first Com- 
munion. 



Household Science. 12 1 



CHAPTER THIRD. 

THE SCIENCE OF DETAILS. — RESULTS OF 
THE SCIENCE OF DETAILS. 

This science contributes more to the 
comfort of a family than we usually believe. 

Nothing is more, annoying than little 
tilings done differently from Avhat we 
would have them, like those constantly 
recurring little wants which irritate us 
all the more from the fact that we hesi- 
tate to complain of them. 

Would you bind anyone to his home ? 
Let him find within his reach all the little 
objects he may require, little fancies of 
his which you know, and Vv'hich he would 
never ask of you through fear of appear- 
ing ridiculous. 

Would you yourself avoid loss of time 
and such frequent hours of ill-humor? 
Surround yourself with all you need and 
wait on yourself as much as possible. 



122 Household Science, 

Certainly we would not transform the 
mistress of a house into a servant and 
render her insupportable to ever3'body by 
tiresome attentions wholly wanting in tact, 
but we desire that neither she nor those 
about her should ever dream of finding 
themselves more comfortable anywhere 
than at home. 

We would have her thoroughly con- 
vinced that neatness, good taste, and 
comfort, qualifications which require only 
care, form the loadstone which retains a 
family in its home. 

Let each thing be in its place, and so 
bright and clean that it is a pleasure to 
look at it, that in the midst of this cheer- 
ful interior, the mind and heart at ease 
may not feel the passage of the happy 
hours and only regret their too rapid 
flight. 

"Beautiful landscapes shorten long 
distances. Pleasing interiors bind people 
to their homes," 

There is a happy medium which you 



Household Science, 123 

must know how to observe. Extremes in 
everything are worth nothing ; to make 
one's life a torment for anything is as 
ridiculous as going to the other extreme 
of neglect. Thus there are narrow minds 
who witlia mania for neatness or fitness 
are always fearful lest their shining fur- 
niture be tarnished, are always watching 
that visitors do not soil their carefully 
polished floors, and are troubled at the 
loss of a pin. This is folly. 

QUALITIES OF THE SCIENCE OF DETAILS. 

The science of details, as we understand 
it, is composed of the following qualities : 
A good uiemojy, a good head, an even temper. 

I St. A good vienioj-y. Memory is most 
essential in the details of home life ; for- 
getfulness destroys tlie most intimate and 
cordial relations. Forgetfuhiess makes 
you neglect the wants of your household. 
Sometimes it is a mere trifle, a little ob- 
ject, which some one has asked you for, 



124 Household Science, 

which involves but an unimportant ex- 
pense. And because you have forgotten 
it and it is a trifle, he hesitates to repeat 
his request he believes himself neglected, 
and he begins to feel hurt. You ask your- 
self the reason cf your brother's or your 
friend's constrained manner, which com- 
municates itself to you. , . 

The next day some fresh neglect in- 
creases the misunderstanding. 

Forgetfulncss makes you neglect to pay 
a workman who needs his wages and has 
presented his forgotten bill several times ; 
meanwhile he and iiis family are suffering 
for the money ; he talks against you and 
accuses you of injustice. Forgetting an 
appointment with a workman obliges him 
to return several times and robs him of 
time necessary to him to earn his bread. 

We can only succeed in forgetting 
nothing by acquiring a habit of doing but 
one thing at a time, by thinking only of the 
duty of the present moment, and by im- 
posing upon ourselves the obligation of 



Hciisehold Science. 125 

noting all that we liave to do in a memo- 
randum which we should always carry 
about us. Another important rule would 
be to perform the duty at once the mo- 
ment the time for it arrives. 

2nd. A good head. By this we mean not 
allowing yourself to be overcome or dis- 
turbed by unforeseen accidents, but to 
quietly consider them for a few moments 
and then act ; one rarely fails to see what 
is to be done when she preserves her 
calmness. 

For example, if one or two friends come 
unexpectedly to dinner. First of all, be 
amiable, hide your embarrassment by a 
pleasant manner and consider during these 
few moments whether there is anything 
in reserve in the house, anything available 
in the poultry yard; anything that you can 
order from a neigboring restaurant, then 
give your orders without precipitation or 
anxiety. In the case of an accident, a fire, 
or if a member of the family is suddenly 
prostrated by some alarming illness, con- 



126 Household Science, 

trol your fear, which will only increase the 
evil, see and examine it for yourself ; it 
is the affair of a few seconds, then act 
promptly and quietly. 

If the house is in the order we have 
suggested to you, you will find under your 
hand everything you need. Order is a 
great assistance in these moments of 
trouble. 

Presence of mind is one of the most 
essential qualities in persons obliged to 
command ; it depends much on tempera- 
ment, but it can also be acquired by habit. 
Filial confidence in God, faith in extraor- 
dinary assistance from heaven, whicli never 
fails in moments of danger, will strengtlien 
the most timid. 

3rd. A)i even temper. An even temper 
which presupposes great virtue is the re- 
sult of a regular, recollected, pious life. 

It is rarely found in young persons ac- 
customed to have every wliim gratified ; 
therefore, must it be confessed, tlieir 
service is frequently more dreaded by a 



Household Science. 127 

servant than the service of the whole 
household. 

Expect then to be contradicted, learn 
to bear it, and never let any annoyance 
or vexation cause you to omit the smallest 
of your duties. Aji even temper is never 
impatient at the inevitable omissions and 
neglects in a household. Things will not 
go every day according to the wislies of 
the mistress of a house ; she will see faults 
committed about her, she will hear dis- 
agreeable sentiments , she will find herself 
indifferently heeded, purposely misunder- 
stood, sometimes maliciously thwarted, 
she will experience deceptions which will 
wound her, she will find her good will, her 
devotion, forgotten, despised. Oh! in such 
moments let her turn to God ; if she be not 
truly pious she will not be able to restrain 
either her vexation or her tears. None 
of this, however, must ever be visible ; it 
is only with cheerful forbearance and a 
pleasant manner that she can fulfil her 
mission. And the courage to smile when 



128 Household Science, 

the heart is full, the strength to continue 
to do right when one is continually 
wounded, is only to be found at the foot 
of the crucifix. 

rORTRAIT OF A CONSIDERATE WOMAN. 

Here, in the words of a father of a 
family, is the pleasing portrait of a mother 
and daughter, whose kind hearts have 
tauglit them that science of details which 
we have mentioned: '*My wife and 
daughter have many qualifications, but 
there are few I esteem as I do their con- 
sideration. 

''If I return home anxious about my 
business, and appear disinclined to talk, 
their pleasant manner never varies, and I 
read in their faces a desire to divert with- 
out wearying me. I perceive them ex- 
change looks, and one or the other recalls 
one of my favorite amusements, oppor- 
tunely suggests it, or places it within my 
reach. I feel that I am not always amia- 



Household Science. 129 

ble, I regret these irregularities of temper ; 
but after all they are caused by my 
anxiety to suitably educate my family, 
and at my age, it is difficult for me to 
hope to entirely correct myself. My wife 
understands my disposition, and treats 
me accordingly. She knows that I am di- 
verted from my reveries by some pleasant 
little attention, and she always has several 
in reserve. My daughter Marie also pos- 
sesses this pleasant and graceful tact ; she 
lies in wait to discover her father's wishes, 
and gratifies them even before I have had 
time to express them. They charmingly 
vie with each other, in their considerate 
attentions ; I am. always sure that I need 
never ask for any of the thousand little 
things which contribute so largely to 
one's domestic happiness. I find ready 
to my hand the garments for each season, 
and the toilet for each day ; a tardily en- 
kindled fire never causes me any regretted 
loss of time, or still more to be regretted 
loss of temper. 



130 Household Science. 

" If I have once expressed a preference 
for any dish, I am sure that it will never 
be necessary for me to repeat my desire ; 
from time to time my favorite dish ap- 
pears on the table, and no one expects me 
to thank her as if she conferred a great 
favor. For the father of a family so 
busy and so anxious to find in his home 
relaxation which renews his strength, 
there is an infinite charm, in finding him- 
self surrounded by attentions which he 
has not even had the time to look for- 
ward to. 

"A good housekeeper must have tact to 
prevent her from carrying this virtue to 
excess, and with the best intentions in 
the world, wearying the person who 
may be the object of her misplaced atten- 
tions. This virtue only exists in all its 
perfection, when her means of success are 
concealed. Marie, if I might venture to 
say so, is even more skilful than her 
mother, in this very charming science. 
She arranges everything so naturally that 



HoiiscJiold Science. 131 

it is only upon reflection tliat I discover 
what she has done to please me. She 
leaves me the simple pleasure of enjoyiiig 
the comfort, with which she surrounds 
me, and conceals from me the delicate 
means she resorts to, in order to procure 
it for me." — Thery. 

Do you know no one about you whom 
this portrait resembles ? 

Why will not each one of you on read- 
ing it, resolve to acquire the virtue of 
being considerate ? 

NOTES ON THESE DETAILS. 

This would be the place to develop the 
elements of a few little arts which we will 
willingly call StLpplenients to Housekeeping. 

They teach one to keep within one's 
means, to do good to others, while at tlie 
same time they diminish the expenses of 
manual work and afford one the satisfac- 
tion of saying : I did this myself. 

We do not speak of the preparation of 



132 Household Science. 

dishes for the table, which cannot easily 
be learned at school, and for which, more- 
over, you find abundant receipts in books, 
nor of the different kinds of needle 
work to which several hours every day are 
devoted in educational institutions ; but 
of those other arts, less common, but none 
the less useful, such as : 

Hygiene, or the art of preserving health ; 

The art of nursing the sick ; 

Medical botany, and a little domestic 
pharmacy ; 

The art of preparing toilet articles ; 

Ingenious receipts ; 

'Y\\^why and the ivherefore of every day 
facts ; 

Errors and prejudices, etc., etc. 

The plan of our book does not permit 
us to enter into the scientific details of the 
general principles which we have contented 
ourselves with mentioning ; but perhaps 
we will publish them some day in the form 
of familiar conversations, and under the 
title of Practical Lessons for Young Girls. 



Household Science. 133 

It seems to us that it would form a work 
full of interesting instruction for the last 
two years of school. 



CHAPTER FOURTH. 

RECREATIONS. TIMES OF RELAXATION IN 

THE FAMILY. 

There are hours during the day, and 
days during the year, when the active busy 
life of the household ceases and a larger 
portion of time is given to the enjoy- 
ment of the family circle.— Such are the 
evening hours of the day, and Sundays and 
Feasts of the year. 

How frequently after the evening meal 
in Winter, at a corner of the fireside, or in 
Summer under a clear blue sky, does the 
young girl joyfully look forward to the 
pleasant Winter's vigil or the charning 
Summer evening's walk. It seems to be 
especially her hour. It is because, uncon- 



134 Household Science. 

cioLisly to herself, she manifests a new side 
of her character, the one she loves most 
perliaps. — She has been useful all day ; in 
the evening and on days of relaxation she 
proves herself charming. She has labored 
all the week ; on Sunday she reaps the 
fruit of her labors in her mother's more 
peaceful face, in the less anxious and more 
cheerful countenance of her father, whom 
she endeavors to divert from all his cares. 

Oh ! these hours are truly named hours 
of relaxation ! 

The mind is no longer constrained 
by the fear of giving offense, of wearying 
otliers, or of failing in conventionalities, 
sometimes ridiculous, always troublesome. 
The heart can freely indulge in outpour- 
ings of its childish love and in all the lit- 
tle confidences of a young girl. 

The body itself, though still occupied, 
enjoys the relief from the monotonous 
work of the household. But these hours 
of real relaxation are only enjoyed in the 
family circle. Outside of it, in journeys. 



Household Science. 135 

pleasure parties, which we are far from 
censuring, one finds amusements, attrac- 
tions, and a variety which from time to 
time seems even necessary ; but all this 
bustle soon wearies one ; it is a flight from 
the nest, to which we hasten to return. 
Outside pleasures, wlule amusing, fatigue 
us ; but within the family circle we enjoy 
real relaxation. Elsewhere we experience 
joys which disappear with their source; 
but at home we find a happiness which 
never leaves us unless we drive it from us. 

WHAT ARE THESE RELAXATIONS? 

FAMILIAR CONVERSATIONS. 

Is there anything sweeter or more 
pleasant than these evening reunions of a 
family where innocence and labor all day 
long have been the guardians of the dwell- 
ing. The pleasant conversations, the 
un^'ceasing bursts of merry laughter, the 
stories repeated a hundred times and 
never heard too often, the artless malice 



136 Household Science, 

which wounded no one, the lively sallies, 
all the more sprightly that they were 
wholly spontaneous, and escaped from a 
mind unspoiled by vanity ; noisy, perhaps 
too noisy, bursts of laughter, but which 
had the art of never wearying one ; finally 
a chatter of questions and replies which 
excited and maintained a perpetual smile 
on the lips of all. And it is you, children, 
you, young girls, who bring all this. Ah ! 
I am not astonished that you are loved, 
that a family without children is like a 
meadow without sun, that they frequently 
call you angels. 

An angel who came from heaven would 
bring happiness ; now, making those about 
you happy is one of your duties, and as 
essential as the duties of supplying the 
wants of your family. 

READING ALOUD. 

There are most attractive books which 
thus through the pleasing voice of a child 



Household Science. 137 

convey gentle teaching and awaken sweet 
emotions. How quickly the evening 
speeds under the charm of these naive 
legends which bring sometimes a smile, 
sometimes a tear, and always contain a 
lesson of devotion, obedience or purity ! 

How frequently the wayward little girl 
of the day interrupts the reading with her 
tears, and kissing her mother, asks par- 
don. 

How the soul is elevated, the heart 
strengthened in love of duty by the father's 
reading of a page where fidelity to God 
and country, and the accomplishment of 
duty are traced in the beautiful language 
of Racine or Corneille. 

How the mind and judgment are 
broadened and rectified by these readings 
with their occasional interruptions of re- 
flections, remarks, commendations, or 
criticisms ! 

And in the end this community of in- 
structions establishes a conformity in the 
minds and hearts of the family, they live in 



138 House Jiold Science, 

the same atmosphere of thought ; they 
understand one another better, for their 
ideas are drawn from the same sources. 
This family reading lias other results A 
book chosen by the mother, a specially 
selected passage, can sometimes convey a 
lesson to all in a way which offends no 
one. No doubt tact is required for this, 
but what pious, devoted woman is with- 
out it ? 

Other times the reading itself prevents 
a quarrel ready to break forth at the 
slightest word, by diverting irritated 
minds to other thoughts. It restores the 
harmony which perhaps a trifling discus- 
sion at table has inteirupted. It spares 
the aggressor the mortification of an 
apology, and tlie aggrieved the embarrass- 
ment of receiving it. 

How many resources there are in this 
mode of recreation. And if some days 
books do not seem so suitable, have you 
not a portfolio of new engravings to look 
over, some new music to try ? 



Household Science, I39 



MUSIC. 

Music ! Behold another deh'ghful means 
of relaxation ! For several years at school 
you have given a great deal of time to 
music ; why should you not devote the 
knowledge you have acquired to your 
parents' entertainment? Let your heart 
guide you in your selections ; sometimes 
it will be a joyous song, or a comic ballad, 
or a devotional chant, or again one of the 
old romances which your mother some- 
times sings, or finally some battle song, a 
favorite of your father's. 

LIBRARY. 

We cannot specially designate the books 
which may be read. We leave the task to 
prudent mothers, aided by the counsel of 
him who directs her conscience. We only 
ask that each house have its little library 
which will receive each year the addition 



140 Household Science. 

of a new volume , give the prize books 
you received as a young girl the place of 
honor. Love good books, those friends 
ever ready to while away the hours of 
suffering, to shorten a long rainy day, to 
cheer you in a winter storm. T\-\osq faith- 
ful counsellors who know not how to flatter 
or to lie. Those amiable hosts who share 
your pleasures and afford you a means of 
preserving them, who console you in your 
trials and ask nothing in return. 

Those messengers of God, who speak to 
you of His Providence, tell you of His 
goodness, and show you souls like yours 
in the path to heaven, making their way 
through the thorns of life towards the 
heavenly country. 

A house is not complete without its 
library. One day an old gentleman, on 
having his books transported into its study, 
joyfully exclaimed as he surveyed them, " I 
feel as if I was lodging old friends in my 
room ; now I will no longer be alone." 

But let me give you a simple counsel, 



Household Science. 141 

my child : Keep 110 hook ivhich you may he 
tempted to hide from your mother 

GAMES. 

For winter evenings round the fire there 
are those little parlor games in which may 
largely mingle a humor which is always 
delicate, and a wit which knows not how 
to wound. 

How merrily the evening speeds with 
amusing charades, ingenious little mysti- 
fications cleverly contrived and still more 
cleverly divined, merry, apt replies to puz- 
zling questions, etc.! 

We can suggest no special games here, 
but we regret that some one has not de- 
voted a few hours to making a collection* 
of those pretty little trifles which add so 
much to the evening reunions of a family, 
diverting the mind from graver cares, and 
contributing even to their moral welfare 



♦There area number of such collections in English. 
Trans i at or . 



142 HoiLscJiold Science. 

by dissipating eniini^ and filling the void 
created by the cessation of active duties. 

We sincerely pity those persons who 
cannot descend to children's games for a 
few moments ; neither a teacher or a 
mother is ever of this class. As for those 
persons who no longer know how, or are 
unwilling to be again a child, or particu- 
larly, will not suffer others to be one be- 
fore them, there is something wrong 
about them, and I would not have such 
people for my friends. 

Besides these games for the smaller and 
larger children, there are others which I 
call more serious, and which are for 
the young girl an occasion of devotion 
and merit. 

The father of the family likes checkers, 
backgammon, cards, and accustomed to 
these evening amusements he is dissatis- 
fied, and misses them when he is obliged 
to sacrifice them. Usually these games 
require a good deal of thought and atten- 
tion ; they are not a relaxation for you, 



House Jiold Science. 143 

my CHiid ; they are for your father. 
Your duty and your heart in unison here 
tell you to smilingly come forward and 
challenge your father to one of his favor- 
ite games. 

A woman is in her place at a card-table 
only when devotion or consideration for 
others impel her to join the game ; and in 
such cases she must never let the obliging 
motive which brings her thither be ap- 
parent. To do so would be a great rude- 
ness, and destroy the merit for heaven of 
her art of amiability. 

FLOWERS. 

There is another source of relaxation 
which, though not exclusively for the 
evening, yet affords a family much pleas- 
ure almost every year: that is the culture 
of flowers in the parlor Special books 
give the manner of planting and preserv- 
ing them. We have only to do with the 
moral side of the subject. 



144 Household Science, 

"I would always," said a philoso- 
pher, " mistrust one who liked neither 
flowers nor children, and when I see a 
few carefully tended flowers, waving in 
the breeze of a young girl's window, I 
say to myself, industry and virtue dwell 
there, and I am tempted to pause and 
".isten whether the voice of an angel does 
not reply to the hymn chanted by the 
young girl." 

To love one another there must be 
some similarity of disposition, and the 
heart which finds pleasure in daily culti- 
vating and watching the growth of a 
ilower, rejoicing in the appearance of each 
new leaf, such a heart is more inclined 
than another to virtue. The love of 
flowers presupposes simple, innocent tastes, 
the absence of noisy pleasures, a love of 
home, an orderly house, and a very fresh 
but very modest toilet. 

Happy the children who have early 
been inspired with this taste, and who 
have preserved it and felt it grow with 
their years. 



Household Science. 145 

If you are allowed a little corner of the 
gr rden, you will find it more attractive ; 
b It cultivate at least a few flowers in the 
p irlor. They make now real jarditiieres 
s > pretty and inexpensive that a child 
,^ 1th a taste for flowers can easily 
gratify it. 

FAMILY HOLIDAYS. 

We do not speak of relaxations enjoyed 
at home but without, such as walks, dis- 
tant excursions long planned, the picnic 
meals on the lawn in the pleasant Spring 
weather. 

There are other holiday ii??ies enjoyed 
round the hearth. Birthdays, anniversa- 
ries, feasts of patron saints. . . Oh ! let 
none of these days pass unnoticed. Never 
forget a member of the family — father, 
mother, brother, sister. Offer a bouquet, a 
few loving words of congratulation, a lit- 
tle gift made by yourself, or bought with 
your pocket money. Let everybody feel 
happy on these days ; give the servants 



146 Household Science. 

themselves some little gift, gratify them 
by a richer repast. 

Nothing touches the hearts of a family 
and binds them more closely, than the 
observance of these days. 

At such times particularly let our dear 
parents find in us the demonstrative ten- 
derness of our childhood days. Alas ! 
why must we as we grow older feel ashamed 
of the frank, loving demonstrativeness of 
our early years. We hardly dare to ca- 
ress our parents any longer, and this feel- 
ing of awkward shame descends into the 
heart and diminishes the affections. 
Hence follow indifference, then estrange- 
ment, which fill family life with so much 
sadness. Observe well, and we will find 
that from tlie day we neglected to embrace ■ 
father or mother,brother or sister, on meet- 
ing in the morning, or befoie separating 
for tlie niglit, we began to love them less. 

Oh! let us always love each other, with 
the fervor and franknessof our early years; 
and if as we grow older there is a certain 



Household Science. 147 

restraint to be observed before strangers, 
let not this restraint exist in the privacy 
of the family circle. 

FAMILY PRAYER. 

Bat do you know what preserves affec- 
tion ? Ah ! doubtless we must see one 
another and manifest our mutual love , 
but above all we must pray together. 

Union of body, says a pious author, is 
not equal to union of soul. The first is 
not always possible, the second always is. 

What a sweet pleasure and joy it is to 
be able to say to oneself . At this present 
moment the soul that I love shares my 
liioughts, repeats the same words, and 
though separated by distance, our petitions 
ascend together, uniting in an indissoluble 
union at the feet of God, who no longer 
distinguishes them and receives them as 
'\i emanating from one heart. O ! loving 
hearts who would always preserve your 



148 Household Science, 

love for one another, say the same prayers 
together. 

And if for mutual love it is not neces- 
sary to know one another, if it suffices to 
pray the same prayers with the same in- 
tention, permit me, dear children, whom I 
do not know, but whom I would have so 
holy and so innocent, permit me to ask 
you to say for our mutual sanctification 
the prayer of our Good Master ; ** Our 
Father^ wJio art tn heaven'' 



APPENDIX 

TWO HABITS. 

Under the above quaint title, a 
mother of a family writes in her memoirs, 
the touching pages which we are about to 
add. 

Read them, young girls, and do not 
forget them in times of trial which God 
reserves for you and which will come to 
you as they have come to your mothers. 
How fortunate it will be for you then, if 
you also have contracted these two habits! 

"We were poor, very poor. Only the 
most assiduous labor and strict economy 
procured us the necessaries of life. And 
yet my father was never sad, 

"'Our funds are very low,' he some- 
times would say. * How I will sleep to- 
night ! There is no softer pillow than 
confidence in God. It seems to me that 
when we have least I rest best.' 
149 



1 50 Appendix. 

*' Rarely did Providence disappoint this 
filial confidence ; we did not know ho\v,but 
timely succor always came. 

" I do not give details. I prefer to send 
those who read me to^ consult their own 
experience ; let them have the courage to 
imitate this confidence, and they will see 
how the Providence of God cares for 
those who trust in Him. 

"And would you know to what my 
father attributed these divine, always new, 
always inexhaustible attentions? To two 
habits which he called family habits, and 
to which he clung in a singular manner. 

"The first was that oi family prayej'. 

"I believe he was accustomed to say, 
for Clirist Himself has said it, that where 
two or more are assembled together in 
His name, He is in their midst, and it is 
very certain that He does not come among 
them empty-handed. So great a Monarch 
has always some gift about Him. 

" Therefore, every morning and even- 
ing (except the mornings of the very busy 



Appendix. 151 

harvest time) we had to all assemble, and 
each one in turn said the prayers aloud. 
An extra ' Our Father' was nearly always 
added for our present needs, and this my 
father always said himself. 

''* It is my place as chief, as head of the 
family, to represent to our heavenly 
Father, the wants of the little flock.' 

*' His tone was always grave, and fre- 
quently full of emotion when he recited 
this beautiful prayer; we were particu- 
larly struck with the manner in which he 
pronounced the words : Thy will be done 
on earth as it is in heaven. 

'' Certainly, in my opinion, it was to this 
touching appeal of our good father, that 
we owed the marvellous interventions of 
Providence in our behalf. 

" The second habit which my father 
had established among us, was that of 
never allowing a day to pass without hav- 
ing at least one member of the family assist 
at Mass, and make a visit to the Blessed 
Sacrament. 



152 Appendix. 

^' 'At least one,' he used to say, in his 
gentle, grave tone, 'at least one among so 
many of us, should go to give the good 
God tidings of the others.' It is like a 
deputy whom we send to make known to 
Him our welfare and our wants. It is like 
a bird which goes to sing for the brood.' 
It is needless to add that he took upon him- 
self the role of ambassador as frequently as 
possible. 

" I never will forget this incident, which 
I am going to relate to you. 

"It was an evening in August; the 
weather had been excessively warm, and 
a storm was threatening towards the end 
of the day. Our poor harvesters had been 
delayed in their work, so that they were 
straining every nerve to get the hay in be- 
fore the storm broke. 

"Tliey finally succeeded, but the last 
load scarcely was under cover before loud 
claps of thunder and blinding lightning 
heralded a tempest of wind and rain ; the 
latter fell in torrents ; I never in my life 
saw such a storm. 



Appe7idix, 153 

" My father then remembered that he 
had not paid his usual tribute — a visit to 
the Blessed Sacraiiioit, and in spite of all 
remonstrances, in spite of the wind and 
rain, and the fact that the church was at 
some little distance, he would absolutely 
make it, and did so, devoting even a little 
more time than usual. 

" ' Now,' he said, on returning, drenched 
through and through, 'I can sleep in 
peace. I never rest well while I have a 
debt to pay, and money in my purse.' " 



II. 



TWO HOUSEHOLDS. 

The following trait borrowed from a 
German author, contains in practice the 
greater part of the details mentioned in 
this little book : 

" I enjoyed a certain competency at a 
period when, master of my own actions, I 
married. My little fortune was incre^ased 



154 Appendix, 

by tliat of my wife's, and the future 
opened very smiling before us. We were 
both happy ; we worked with an ardor 
which should have doubled our means, 
yet at the end of each year it was with 
difficulty that we could begin the new 
year without going into debt. 

" Not far from us lived a young man, 
about our age, and like ourselves, recently 
married, who in consequence of his near 
neighborhood, became an intimate friend 
in the house. 

" He worked no harder than I did, his 
income was considerably less than mine, 
and I knew that each year he laid by sixty 
or eighty dollars, 

" ' I do not know how George manages 
it,' my wife said to me one day. 

" ' No doubt he economizes more than 
we do Could you have the courage, my 
dear wife, to imitate him ?' 

" The following Sunday we went to see 
George, and led the conversation to the 
subject of economy. ' We economize very 



Appendix. 155 

much in the expenses of the table,' said 
Mme. George. ' The times are liard, 
everything is dear, but one can manage. 
We have plenty to satisfy our hunger, and 
if the dishes are not so very savory, they 
are wholesome.' 

*' ' Now for some time we have given up 
coffee ; Ave take instead, a good soup, and 
we find we are wonderfully well. Coffee 
and sugar frequently go up in price, while 
our soup is never dearer one time than 
another. At dinner we have meat and 
vegetables ; at supper, porridge and cold 
meat. We only add a third dish, and a 
dessert on Sundays and feast days. 

" ' We rarely drink pure wine, and in 
this way we preserve our health and our 
good humor, without ever completely 
emptying our purse. The most delicate 
dishes are not as savory as the anxiety of 
debt is bitter.' 

"When we returned to the house, my 
wife said : 'That is very good ; we can 
certainly retrencli something ; but life is 



156' Appendix, 

not worth living with such poor fare. Let 
us try first one dish less at dinner, a des- 
sert less at each meal, then we will see.' 

" This wise resolution was executed, and 
other little economies added to these ; 
but alas, we were still on the point of bor- 
rowing, while at the end of the year, 
George again had sixty or eighty dollars 
to lay up. 

" * I do not know how he manages to do 
it,' my wife said. 

" ' Doubtless he economizes more than 
we. Would you, my dear wife, have the 
courage to imitate him ?' 

" We made another visit to our friends, 
and again discussed the subject of house- 
keeping. 

*' 'It is very difficult,' said Madame George, 
' the days are short, but we manage. Every- 
thing is done at a time fixed for it ; we 
rise at five, at seven \ve take our porridge, 
at noon we dine, at seven we take our 
supper, at nine we go to bed. We observe 
the same hours in winter that we do in 
summer. 



Appendix. 157 

*' ' It is incredible, my friend, how much 
work can be accomplished between two 
nights when one is industrious and regulates 
in advance the time to be employed for 
each duty. Besides, we are very particu- 
lar to keep everything in order, and in its 
place, so that we never have to complain 
of anything being lost, for there is noth- 
ing about us which is not in the place 
assigned for it, consequently we never 
have to lose five minutes or a quarter of an 
hour looking for keys, scissors, or anything 
else. 

" * 1 am sure I could find even a pin or a 
needle in the dark. 

*' ' In this way I always have plenty of 
leisure to make clothes for the children, 
and I require neither nurse or seamstress.' 

" On our return home, I said to my wife, 
'Remember about the early rising, and 
the keys always in their place, which can 
be found at any moment.' She under- 
stood me. For some time order reigned 
in the house ; we were careful to frequently 



158 Appendix, 

consult tlie time-piece, and everything 
was in its place, but gradually the keys 
began to be missing, and necessitated a 
search for them. There was very little 
difference in our expenses, while George, 
at the end of the year, again laid by sixty 
or eighty dollars. 

'' ' I do not know how he does it,' again 
exclaimed my wife. ' He must economize 
more than we,' I repeated. ' Let us go 
and see him once more.' 

"We went to him and directly asked 
him how he could manage his household 
expenses so well, when the price of pro- 
visions was continually going up. 

" ' It is very simple,' he replied ; ' what 
we lose in one way, we gain in another. 

" * Formerly, I went out in the evening to 
amuse myself with friends ; my wife paid 
a few visits, and invited one or two per- 
sons to dinner. Now we stay at home 
more. Can one find pleasanter society 
than one's own family ? 

'"We have discovered that our games 



Appendix. 159 

with the children and old people Winter 
evenings, round the hearth, and our walks 
together in the pleasant seasons, possess a 
charm which our outside pleasure parties 
never afforded us. 

" ' We mutually celebrate one another's 
birthdays, and every member of the fam- 
ily, from baby to grandmother, has a cele- 
bration and a superb feast. And all this 
affords us more happiness, and occasions 
us less expense, than the new dresses, 
shawls and laces, necessary for our visits 
and receptions.' 

"We returned home, decided to follow 
these counsels. 

**And the next day I had put up in our 
sitting-room, in large letters, the following 
words, which recalled to us the cause of 
George's prosperity: 

•- ^''Labor^ order, sobriety, love of hotiic, per- 
severance.'' 

END. 

June 20th, 1879, Feast of the Sacred 
Heart. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction, ...... 3 

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. 

DEFINITION — END — DIVISION. 

What is Household Science? ... 7 

How to Procure the Welfare and Comfort of 
a Family, ....... 7 

Woman's I^Iission in the Family — Its Quali- 
ties, ....... 9 

Necessity of Household Science, . . . ir 

Our End, . 13 

Our Authorities, . . . . . .14 

Division of this Treatise, . . , .18 

FIRST PART. 

ADMINISTRATION AND INCREASE OF THE FAMILY 
INCOME. 

FIRST RULE. 

Know your Income, and regulate your Ex- 
penses accordingly, . . . , ig 
160 



Tabic of Contents. i6i 



PAGE 

The Portion of the Poor, . . . .21 

Apportioning the Income — Do not go beyond 

it, 22 

Work — Debts, 23 

Determine a certain Sum to be laid Aside, . 26 
Usefulness of the Sum set Aside, . . .27 
Means of Rectifying the Deficits, . . 29 

A Few Words on the Domestic Account book, 35 

SECOND RULE. 
To know How and When to Buy, . . 41 
Buying, .... ... 41 

Is it Necessary to Bargain ? ... 42 

Houses with a Fixed Price, . . . .44 

The smaller Shops, . . . . . 46 

Buying each thing in its own time — Provisions, 47 
Buying in wholesale Quantities, . . . 4S 
Buying good Materials, .... 48 

Knowing how to Sell, 50 

Mania for Buying, . . . . "51 

Precautions, 52 

Buying in person, . . • • • 53 

Utilizing what is left over, . . . .54 

THIRD RULE. 
To Superintend Everything, and to Beware 

of Wasting in little things, . . -55 
I. 
To Superintend Everything, . . . .55 



1 62 



Table of Contents. 



How one can be Deceived, 
Moral Surveillance, 

II. 
Beware of little Wastes, 
The Wastes in the Kitchen, 
" " " Purchases, 



neglected Accounts, 
the Linen, . 
the Furniture, 
Clothes, . 



A Story, 



FOURTH RULE. 

To Select and Form good Servants, 
Duties towards Servants, 
Practical Rules, .... 
Bad Servants, .... 
FIFTH RULE. 
Wisely Apportion your Day, . 
Necessity of this Rule — A few Rules, 
Morning Prayer, , . , . 

Afternoon, .... 

The End of the Day, 

SECOND PART. 

The Comfort of a Family— What is Comfort, 
In what does the Adornment of Home con- 
sist, and upon whom does it Depend ? 



96 



97 



Table of Contents, 163 



PAGE 



Division of this Second Part, . , . 99 

CHAPTER FIRST. 
I. 
Ornamentation of the House — Choice of Fur- 
niture — Old Furniture, . . . 100 

II. 

Neatness, 104 

Practical Counsels in regard to the Cleanliness 
of a House, . . . ... 105 

Fitness of Drc^s. 108 

CHAPTER SECOND. 

The Material Arrangement of the House — 
Whence comes the Art of Knowing how to 
Arrange a House, . . . . 11 1 

On what this Arrangement Depends, . .112 
Your Room, . . . . 115 

The Advantages of a tasteful Arrangement of 

the House, ii6 

Keeping a Journal, . • . 119 

CHAPTER THIRD. 

The Science of Details — Results of the Sci- 
ence of Details, .... I2I 
Qualities of the Science of Details, . 123 
Portrait of a Considerate Woman, . . 128 
Notes on these Details, .... 131 



164 



Table of Conte^its. 



CHAPTER FOURTH. pagh 

Precautions — Times of Relaxation in the Fam- 
ily. • • • 133 

What are these Relaxations? — Familiar Con- 
versations, .... 

Reading Aloud, 

Music, . o . . . 

Library, ..... 

Games, . . . . » 

Flowers, .... 

Family Holidays, 

Family Prayer, 



APPENDIX. 



T\A'o Habits, 
Two Households, 



135 
136 

139 
139 
141 

143 
145 
147 



149 
153 



, 


















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